The Misadventures of Wes Weston
by WastefulReverie
Summary: The day-to-day struggles of Wes Weston as he is faced with the painful realization that he is the only person who seems to realize that Danny Fenton is actually Danny Phantom. Many plot ideas adopted from headcanons mixed with some original ideas. Minor DxS. Post D-Stabilized, no Phantom Planet. Cover image made by CartoonFreakshow. Strong language warning.
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

I can doubtlessly say you'd be hating your life if you were me too. For as long as I remember, everything about my very existence has been overwhelmingly frustrating and unfortunate. I suppose it started around the time I was born. In this century, not many women die in child birth at all, but my mother, unfortunately had the luck to be one of the very few. Sometimes I like to think I inherited her horrible luck. That left my father (a red-headed man who looks much like myself and would do absolutely anything for money) to name me. Wesley Oliver Weston. WOW. He gave me the initials _WOW_. Apparently he didn't even figure that out until the time I was five, when I came running home from the mean eight-year olds on the playground who had ridiculed me for my name. My Dad, as clueless as he was, told me that it didn't matter what my names spelled out. After all, WOW was a cool word, right? Let's just say, five-year old me didn't think so either.

My bad luck was constantly present throughout my childhood. Most of the time it was due to Dad being too busy with his work to notice that his son was dangling out of a tree about to break his arm or that I accidentally dropped an entire pot of boiling water on my self (hey, one must learn how to make macaroni at a young age if he wants to survive). It was the worst by the time I was seven. At that point, I think I had my own seat at the Children's Hospital. That was also the year that Dad took up working as a secretary for a rich crackpot in Wisconsin, the millionaire Vlad Masters. From the second Dad introduced me to him, I knew something was off about that pretentious douche-bag... I just couldn't place what.

Over the years I'd gotten used to misfortune after misfortune. In fact, after I was the only one who showed up at my ninth birthday party, I'd come to expect it. As a Sophomore, I was perfectly content with being the socially ignored (but not bullied nor popular) basketball player. But one day that all changed... and not for the better.

For everything to make sense, there's one thing you have to understand about Amity Park in general: everyone believes in the existence of ghosts. In this town, saying that you don't believe in ghosts is like saying that the Earth is flat or that the sun revolves around us. In any other place, you wouldn't have so many people so convinced in the paranormal... well, in Amity Park it's normalized. Quite literally. The entire town is frequently haunted by various ghosts. We actually have our own ghost fighting superhero who keeps the other bad ghosts at bay in the ghost dimension or something. And that white-haired, spandex donning, glorified bedsheet is where all my problems start.

* * *

 **Alright, so this is my first try at a Danny Phantom fanfiction, not to mention my first story on here. Usually I'm used to writing on Wattpad, but many of my friends already know my account on there so I've sorta stopped writing on there because of them. Besides, I like how is less like a social networking website (which Wattpad reminds me of) and more focused on writing.**

 **Also, for Wes's character I'm basically taking a bunch of Tumblr headcanons and combining them all in one story. So if you see something that is yours or someone you know, I am not claiming to own the idea. DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN DANNY PHANTOM, OR ANY IDEAS FOR WES THAT AREN'T ALREADY MINE. Oh and this should be the only time I write in 1st POV for this story.  
**


	2. The Untold Irony

Chapter One: The Untold Irony

* * *

Like most people in Amity Park, Wes knew very little about Danny Phantom. Even the town's residential ghost hunters (who believed in the paranormal long before any of the townspeople), the Fentons, couldn't figure out much about him. At first, he appeared to be a simple malevolent ghost, kidnapping the mayor and robbing department stores (there was even a rumor about him destroying Christmas, but Wes wasn't sure if he believed _that_ one). But after a while, people began to notice... he wasn't purposely wrecking the town; he was protecting it from other ghosts. Not long after he saved Amity from the King of Ghosts, a fanbase originated around him. Most of it was just girls from Wes's school who wanted to date him, but apparently some guys are in it too (notably one Casper High quarterback).

Like most, Wes believed him to be a hero. It would be pretty disrespectful to the guy's afterlife if he said otherwise. But that was before one Dash Baxter approached red-headed Wes Weston on a particularly warm September afternoon.

Wes had been at his locker getting his geometry textbook for sixth period. Completely engrossed in his own world, he turned around and walked right in the King of the A-Listers and quarterback, Dash Baxter. Or Wes's friends on the basketball team liked to call him, the world's smartest bulldozer. Dash instinctively grabbed Wes's shirt and pulled him closer, "Watch where you're – wait a minute, do I know you?"

After Dash let go of his shirt, Wes looked at the jock with wide eyes. In the past two years Wes had been in only two of the same classes with Dash, and during those classes he always tried to avoid him. While Wes didn't really speak up much during school, he like to think of himself as somewhat smart. All the way through the tenth grade, the lowest grade Wes had ever made was a B. He figured that being around someone like Dash wouldn't do much good, so he had subconsciously started avoiding him (as he did with many other students). But back to the problem at hand...

"I'm – uh – Wes Weston. I'm in your fourth period economics class."

"Are you sure?" Dash wondered. "It sounds familiar, but it doesn't seem right."

Dash sounded genuinely stumped. Wes was stuck there while Dash was pondering where he recognized Wes. Wes thought to himself, _the faster I get out of here, the better._

"I'm also on the basketball team. Player number two... Weston, y'know?"

"Nah, that's not it either."

Now Wes was confused too. Where else could Dash had seen him. It's not like he had much of a social life.

"Oh!" Dash said suddenly, "I know now. Say, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Danny Phantom?"

Wes was immediately taken aback, "I do?"

"Yeah," Dash grinned. "Y'know, he has the green eyes, kinda like yours, except his _glow_. That and you basically have the same hair style."

Wes shrugged, "I never realized that I looked that much like a dead guy. Or that his eyes glow. That's pretty freaky."

"Well you can't really tell through all the news footage," Dash said offhandedly. "I only know because I've met him in person before! We had this whole adventure and everything!"

Now _that_ Wes knew about. He remembers the week back in their Freshmen year when Dash bragged to everyone about his time with the elusive ghost boy. Apparently they'd been shrunk by one of the Fentons' crazy inventions (seriously, how have these people not been arrested before?) that also caused Phantom to lose his ghost powers, so he had to rely on Dash for help. Talk about low. Dash also gave the Fentons' son (who was also in their grade) a hard time about it because it was his dad's fault the two got stuck in that predicament. At the time, Wes was surprised that Fenton took Dash's wrath so easily – almost like it was some kind of routine. That was another reason Wes avoided Dash, he was known for his bullying.

Remembering this, Wes quickly made some excuse about being late for math class and ducked out of Dash's sight. Wes thought he was in the clear when a tanned goth-girl approached him out of nowhere, "Hey I overheard some of what you were talking about with Dash. What exactly did he say about Phantom?" the girl piled on him.

Wes fought the urge to roll his eyes. So she was one of _those_ girls. "He just said I looked like Phantom. Then he started to recount his whole _Honey I Shrunk the Kids_ with Phantom adventure again."

The girl looked somewhat satisfied and – what was that? – relieved. "Oh, I get it." she laughed, " _You_ sort of do look like Phantom."

Moments later, she walked off. Wes was left completely confused by the odd encounter. The way she had said that he looked like Phantom had been weird... almost like she was talking to someone who wasn't there. Strange.

* * *

Wes couldn't get either of the strange encounters out of his head for the remainder of the day. It was bothering him: did he really look like the elusive ghost boy? He asked his friend Justin during basketball practice and was once more taken aback at his answer.

"You know... now that I think about it, you really do look like Phantom. And I should know, I'm in his Phan Club."

"You what? How come this is the first you've told me about it?" Wes looked at his friend questionably, wondering what else he knew about the ghost boy that he had neglected to mention.

"I don't know... it never really came up. And it's not like I'm the only guy on the team in it. A lot of us have support for Phantom."

"So..." Wes grinned a little, "if you're in the Phan Club, maybe you could tell me what girls have a thing for Phantom. If I do look like him, maybe I can convince them I'm one of his living relatives or something."

Justin smirked, "Yeah right. Even though you might look like Phantom, no girl would be that dumb.

"You never know!" Wes protested as Justin started laughing.

* * *

For the next few days, Wes took it as a compliment whenever someone mentioned that he looked like Phantom. But after a while... Wes started to get annoyed. Apparently word had gotten around, and people were calling him 'The Phantom look-alike'. Normally Wes would've liked this kind of attention from his peers, but there was something that was troubling him. He couldn't exactly figure out what made him look so much like Phantom. Sure, he had green eyes and was kinda lanky like Phantom... but Wes's eyes were more human-looking and Wes himself was taller than Phantom. Not to mention that his hair wasn't even the correct color. After the fifth day, the name 'Phantom' rung in Wes's mind with a hint of irritability.

By lunch of the following Tuesday, Wes was literally on the edge, ready to burst at any moment.

"Hey – aren't you the Phantom look-alike...?" asked a Freshman girl as she walked by his table in the cafeteria.

Wes snapped. "I am _not_ the Phantom look-alike! Okay? I don't know why any of you guys keep saying I look like him, because I _don't_! I'm _not_ dead! You see this, this is me breathing!" Wes quickly gesturing to his throat as he inhaled a breath of air. "I'm not a ghost, so I don't know why any of you are comparing me to him! Hell, we don't even have the same hair color... by a long shot! So why do you people keep telling me I look like him, huh? It's not like I literally _am_ Phantom!"

Everyone in the cafeteria fell silent. The Freshman girl who had triggered his outburst let out an awkward, "Eep!" and ran away to rejoin her friends. Wes was feeling slightly better about himself, getting everything off of his chest. But that feeling was short lived, because the next few words he heard were ones that he would never forget.

"Hey guys, we should start calling Weston 'Phantom' if it really bothers him that much, am I right?" Dash Baxter chortled.

Wes looked at the smirking football players in horror when he realized his social life was about to get a whole lot worse.

"Hey _Phantom_ , would you mind repeating your little rant for us? You might want to speak up this time, I mean, you _are_ a ghost after all.

* * *

"It's not that bad." Justin attempted to convince Wes for the third day in a row. Ever since his outburst in the cafeteria on Tuesday, everyone in the school had started pretending Wes was Phantom. For the past three days, people had screamed 'Phantom' and 'Ghost' at him as he walked down the hallway. They attacked him at his locker, asking him details about Phantom's latest ghost battle. Not to mention that it was Friday now, and he was pretty sure he had heard every 'dead joke' in the book. What was even worse was that some of the teachers seemed to be in on it. On Thursday when he had been staring off into space, contemplating on what he should do in this situation, his history teacher had asked if Watergate was too boring and if he'd rather be fighting a ghost. Even the losers thought it was funny, especially that creepy goth girl from over a week ago.

Needless to say, Wes was miserable.

"You say that, but you're not the one who the entire student body has started personally harassing."

Justin frowned, "It's not harassment. It's just a few jokes. I mean listen to yourself Wes, you're building it up to be something it isn't."

Wes deadpanned, "You're a horrible friend."

"And you're a complete cynic."

The two were silent for a few moments before Justin spoke again, "Y'know, if it's really that bad, maybe you can try talking to Ishiyama about it."

"I knew you weren't the brightest, but are you a fucking moron?" Wes said.

"What's so bad about going to the principal?"

"These are fifteen year-old meat-heads. They already know that this is bothering me. If I get authority involved, it's basically a green-light for more tormenting."

"True..."

" _True_ ," Wes repeated sarcastically. "Seriously Justin, what's gotten into you? You're usually the one who's like ' _fuck the adults, teenage-'_

Wes was cut off by another one of their teammates approaching them, "Hey Phantom, are you alright? You look a little dead on the inside too."

A bubble of rage and frustration rose within Wes. He couldn't fucking take this anymore. From that moment on, Wes knew, he had to find a way to stop this. There had to be some way to make everyone realize that this wasn't funny anymore (nor had it been to start with). Out of all the things that he could be made fun of, this was possibly the most mediocre. I mean, why Phantom anyway? He didn't look like Phantom, at all! With almost 500 students in Casper High there had to be someone else that looked more like him, right?

* * *

After practice on Friday, Wes spent most of the night flipping through the previous year's Yearbook to see if he could find anyone else who looked similar to Phantom. Out of 543 students, 264 of them had been male. Not including the Senior Class (who had already graduated since this was _last_ year's Yearbook), students who had moved, and Wes himself that left 184 candidates. Wes had made a list of traits to look for that supposedly made someone 'look similar' to Phantom. Such as the same hairstyle and green eyes.

Following four hours of hastily comparing everyone's yearbook photo to a picture he had printed out of Phantom, Wes had composed a list of fourteen individuals who shared a vague resemblance to Phantom. On the top was a boy named Danny Fenton (the same Fenton boy that Dash bullied) and on the bottom was Mikey Hobaken. After looking at the pictures a few times, Wes noticed that Fenton _really_ looked like Phantom. A lot. They were so similar it was sort of scary. Hell, they even shared the same first name. Wes thought he knew coincidence, but this was _too_ freaky. He started wondering why people were calling him Phantom and not this kid. Probably because Danny Fenton was one of Casper's notable lowest of the low losers and nobody wanted to give him the satisfaction of comparing him to the 'great' ghost hero. Right now, Wes would do anything to be invisible. That Fenton kid didn't know how lucky he was.

* * *

Danny couldn't stop laughing at the pure irony of the social catastrophe Wes Weston had become in the past few days. It had started one day when Dash and Wes were talking about him the hallway. Well, not him: Phantom. But Danny _was_ Phantom... so they technically were talking about him.

Danny hadn't been there, he'd heard about it from Sam. According to her, she'd heard bits of pieces of Dash comparing Phantom's appearance to someone – and being Sam, she intended to find out who. So she had cornered Wes and found out that Dash had said that Wes looked like Phantom. _Oh... the irony_. When she repeated her story to Danny and Tucker minutes later, the trio shared a few laughs. The thought that Dash had believed Wes to look like Phantom, when he used the real Phantom as a punching-bag every time he got an F on a test was downright hilarious. They had already known the people of Amity Park were unbelievably oblivious, but this was close to crossing the line.

For the next few days, more and more people started telling Wes that he looked like Phantom. As Wes's irritation became evident, the more the trio reveled in the irony. By Tuesday, almost the entire student body had heard about Wes's resemblance to Danny's ghost form. Though Danny didn't ask, he slowly started to wonder if Sam was the one circulating that Wes was Phantom's look-alike. Danny decided would never know unless she told him, because he was way too scared to ask her without fearing being sucked into a thermos.

After Tuesday, everything spiraled downward for Wes. By that point, everyone had actually started calling him Phantom, and pretending that he was the ghost boy. It was a good thing that Danny didn't need to breath as much as a normal person, because if he did, he probably would've died (well, _fully died_ this time) of laughter. By that point Danny was sort of sorry for Wes. After all, what he was going through was one of the reasons Danny dreaded exposure. But it wasn't like he could do anything. It was a High School thing, it would come and go in the blink of an eye. And in the meantime, Danny and his friends would laugh about it without a care in the world.

* * *

 **I can't believe how many views I've gotten on this in just the past four days. This is my first Fanfiction on this site, so it's really surprising how easy it is to actually** ** _get_** **views. So, I guess thanks to anyone who's really reading this right now. Also, I probably won't be very consistent with updates - just to let you guys know. It could be a day or a month before the next one, because I honestly have no time management.**

 **Edit (7-14-17): This chapter used to be two chapters, but I merged it into one because the first two chapters were notably shorter than later ones.**


	3. There's Something Off About Fenton

Chapter Two: There's Something Off About Fenton...

* * *

Wes walked into the school with his held high. He was determined to end all of this by the end of the day. He would make them see how utterly stupid this was. He was a Weston... and Westons didn't let anyone make them look like a fool ("Unless we're given enough money, then we'll do whatever the hell anyone wants us to," his Dad used to say).

"Hey, Phantom!" Wes ignored Kwan as he walked to his locker. "Ghost boy!" Wes entered his locker combination, pulling it open slowly. "Are you deaf or something, Phantom?" Wes groaned as he pulled out his books. "Oh wait, I remember now. All of you is dead!" _That wasn't even clever._ "Seriously, Phantom, talk to me." Wes slammed his locker and kept his books close to his chest. "No, don't fly away! _Ghost boy_..."

Wes painfully tried to focus in history class. There were three wadded up scraps of notebook paper at the top of his desk; all of them were notes from other students. Wes had no interest in opening them because he already knew everything that they said. Probably something along the lines of _'Hey Phantom, how was your fight with Technus yesterday?'_ or _'You're so savage Phantom, you're my hero. By the way, my seven-year old sister wants to date you.'_

Somehow, just somehow, Wes managed to suffer through all his morning classes. Finally, it was lunch time. Wes knew he wouldn't have to wait long, someone was bound to call him 'Phantom' any moment now. Wes was ready... he had prepared this rant all weekend. He even memorized it with some flashcards. It was now or never. Wes saw his chance when Dash started making his way towards him.

"Hey Phantom, you gonna finish your fries?" Dash put a hand on Wes's shoulder, "I mean, you're a ghost and ghosts can't eat."

Wes, a little terrified (and absolutely gobsmacked that he was about to do this), stood up to Dash. He pulled Dash's hand of his shoulder, and looked him dead in the eyes, "I'm done with all this Phantom shit."

Dash was taken aback for a moment. Nobody really ever stood up to him, and this Weston kid looked pretty pissed. After overcoming his initial shock, Dash narrowed his eyes: nobody talks to the King of the A-Listers like that. "And what're you gonna do about it, _Phantom_? Use your ghost ray on me? Possess me? Like anybody could possess Dash Baxter!"

(Halfway across the cafeteria, Danny Fenton snorted.)

"Stop calling me _Phantom_! It's not even funny that you're calling me Phantom when I don't even look like him!" Wes spat.

"But you _do_ look like him," Dash smirked. "Do you not own a fucking mirror?"

"You clearly don't."

"Why you-" Dash grabbed the collar of Wes's basketball shirt. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't beat you up right here and now. Trust me, by the time I'm down with you, you'll be a ghost."

The A-List started to cackle with amusement. All of them thought this whole 'Wes is Phantom' ordeal was the best thing since Dash made Fenton eat his underwear. Wes eyed the popular group warily, _he would make them understand_.

"But Dash," Star said, her voice dripping with mockery, "Weston can't be a ghost. Ghosts are made of souls right? And he's a ginger... gingers don't have souls. Therefore, Weston can never be a ghost."

Once more, the cafeteria erupted in hysterics.

" _ROASTED_!" called many of the jocks.

In all the chaos, Wes managed to escape Dash's grip. Inhaling a large breath, he managed to scream over all of the roaring teenagers, "ENOUGH!"

Everyone's eyes flicked over Wes once more. By this point, he was visibly fuming. "I am sick and tired of all of you! Won't you just hear me out?! I don't look relatively close to Phantom, at all! There are many more people in this school who look more like that damned ghost kid! Why don't you make fun of some of them? Huh? Why's it got to be me? I'm on the basketball team, I'm not a stupid ghost! Why don't you pick some other loser to be your laughingstock? Someone who actually looks like God damn Danny Phantom!"

"Yeah," Dash crossed his arms, "and where are these other people who look like the ghost boy? I don't see them anywhere."

Wes smirked, "Well for one, there's Danny _Fenton_."

In one movement, all heads turned to face Danny Fenton, who was sitting alone with his two friends. The dubbed 'loser trio' of Casper High shared the same look of horror of having all attention brought to them. The accused boy didn't even have the chance to get a syllable in before Dash sputtered out with uncontrollable laughter.

"Fenturd – looking – like – Phantom..." he threw his head back, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and trust me, Kwan comes up with some crazy shit when he's drunk."

"Dash!" Kwan protested.

"It's true, Kwan," Star said solemnly. "I mean, I'm pretty sure we all remember the pretzel incident where you tried snorting crushed up pretzels so you could have, and I quote, 'a séance with Jesus, so you could find out who was in the Illuminati'."

Kwan shrugged, "It seemed reasonable at the time... and it's not like he was answering my prayers."

"You're such a dumbass, Kwan," Paulina said. "But you can play football and you have money, and that's why you're our friend."

"Anyway..." Dash turned back to Wes. "Look _Phantom_ , Fenturd will never be cool enough to be Phantom. That's why you're Phantom! You should embrace it!"

A vein on Wes's forehead looked like it was going to burst, "But that doesn't give you a reason to call _me_ Phantom! I look nothing like him! If you're going to call someone Phantom, at least do it to someone who looks like him!"

Sam, who unlike Danny and Tucker, had recovered her brief shock, intervened in all the chaos, "This is getting ridiculous. I mean, everyone knows humans can't be ghosts."

All the A-Listers snapped at her at once, " _Shut up_ , Goth Freak!" Dash looked at the accused girl, "Well _duh_. That would be cool though," he added as an afterthought. "It's all part of the joke to make Phantom here," he cocked his head at Wes, "socially miserable."

 _And it was working_ , Wes thought, _I_ am _socially miserable. Today didn't make anything better, if anything it made it worse. And now that Fenton kid probably thinks I'm trying to make him suffer because of how I drew attention to him._ Wes furrowed his brow in thought. _But it was weird... nobody really seemed to care how much he looked like Phantom. Does he really look like the ghost kid, or am I losing my mind? Maybe I should ask around..._

* * *

At this point, Danny had believed that nobody would come to recognize the similarities between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom. Apparently, he'd been wrong. This Wes kid seemed to be more observant than he let on... but it wasn't like he could make the connection that his two identities were one and the same, right? After all, nobody had even agreed or seemed to care about Fenton and Phantom's resemblance. As Dash put it, _'Fenturd will never be cool enough to be Phantom'_. As long as the students of Casper High and the rest of Amity Park believed that, his secret was as well as safe.

* * *

"Hey Justin," Wes asked his friend at basketball practice, just hours after the fiasco in the cafeteria.

"Yeah Phantom?"

"Ugh!" Wes screamed in frustration, "Not you too!"

Justin sheepishly grinned, "Sorry. Just felt like I had to. I'll try not to do it again."

Wes bit his lip. That was a lie. Justin was always bad at keeping to his promises, but he decided to let it go this time. "Do you think Danny Fenton looks like Danny Phantom?"

"Isn't that the guy you were trying to say looked more like Phantom than you, and therefore he should 'be Phantom'?"

Wes hesitated, "Yeah... that's him. Anyway, I felt really confident about it earlier, saying that Fenton looked like Phantom. But now I feel like I don't even know what I was saying."

Justin raised an eyebrow, "What are you trying to say, because I'm not following."

Wes sighed. "I had convinced myself that this Fenton guy looked like Phantom, but when Dash said it, he said that he looked nothing like Phantom and everyone seemed to agree. Was I wrong? Does he not look like Phantom? Am I going crazy?"

Justin shrugged. "I don't know man. I don't really pay attention to him, so I don't really know what he looks like much. But I think you may be onto something about the crazy part... but that's at least fifteen years old."

" _Ha. Ha._ You've humored me," Wes rolled his eyes.

Justin scrunched his face up in thought,"Wait a minute, wasn't he the kid who led us on that ghost pirate ship to save our parents?"

Wes looked at his friend oddly, "When did that happen? Are you sure that wasn't another one of Kwan's acid trips?"

"No." Justin said, "That actually did happen. A lot of us remember it, but Dash told us not to bring it up much. He said that Danny didn't deserve all the praise, or something stupid like that."

"Dash is such a self-centered ass."

"What else is new?" Justin laughed.

"But tell me more about that ghost pirate thing. Was Phantom involved? Did you happen to see the two of them together at any point? What did they look like side by side?"

"Phantom was definitely there..." Justin muttered, "but he only showed up after he saved Danny from being thrown off the ship."

"So the two of them were together?" Wes questioned.

"Apparently. I didn't personally see it though, so you'd probably have to ask someone else." Justin paused, "Why are you so interested in proving that Fenton looks like Phantom anyway?"

Wes scoffed, "I thought that was clear. I'm trying to prove to Dash that there are more people in this school that look like Phantom. If I can convince him that Fenton also looks like Phantom, maybe he'll leave me alone."

"Dude, I hate to break it to you, but that's never going to happen."

"Then it better damn well, because I'm not stopping until I get my dignity back."

* * *

The next day, Wes spent his time asking various people whether or not Fenton looked like Phantom. Most people had similar reactions to Dash: complete hysteria. There was one particular reaction that furthered Wes's interest. Something about it wasn't exactly right...

"Hey!" Wes called down the hallway, eyes trained on the back of a red beret. "Uh, Foley right?"

For a moment, the said boy appeared to almost jump out of his skin, like something about Wes's presence unnerved him. But Tucker Foley quickly regained his composure, and nodded politely at Wes.

"Hey Wes, what's up?"

Wes beamed. _He hadn't called him Phantom._ He's the first person in over a week to not call him Phantom. Thank God...

"I was just wondering if I could ask you a quick question."

"Uh – sure, alright," Tucker said hesitantly.

"Do you think your friend Danny looks like Phantom?" Wes pulled out two pictures from his pocket: one yearbook picture of Danny Fenton, and one action-shot of Danny Phantom.

Something about Tucker's demeanor had completely changed when Wes mentioned his friend. He quickly averted his gaze to the pictures that Wes was holding, and quickly looked back at Wes. "No! Not at all! That's ridiculous! Danny doesn't look like Phantom at all! I mean, Phantom has white hair and green eyes. Phantom is also... skinnier! Yeah, skinnier than Phantom. Not to mention his glowing green eyes. Can't forget those... hehe."

Tucker seemed pretty quick to deny Danny's resemblance to the ghost boy. His reasons were pretty thought out, almost as if it was something scripted. Not to mention that something about his reaction had been really weird... he mentioned Phantom's eyes twice, kind of like he was _deliberately_ trying to convince Wes that Danny didn't look similar to Phantom. The question was why he would try to deny it though? He didn't have a reason to. If Danny looked like Phantom, it didn't really matter that much, did it?

As he tried to analyze what exactly Foley was trying to say in that strange encounter, Wes's mind backtracked to something Dash had said few days earlier... _"Y'know, he has the green eyes, kinda like yours, except his_ glow _. You can't really tell through all the news footage. I only know because I've met him in person before!"_

So did that also mean that Tucker had met Phantom in person before? You'd assume if he had, he would've told someone about it. I mean, if people found out you knew Phantom, that could make you really popular. There was no way that if Tucker met Phantom he would keep it to himself. Unless... he didn't want to tell people he had met Phantom. But why would he do that? Maybe he knew something about the ghost boy that everyone else didn't... If that was the case, then maybe Tucker and Phantom were actually really close or something.

Something clicked in Wes's mind. Tucker is Danny Fenton's friend. Hypothetically, if he has a connection to both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom – is there a _specific_ reason that Fenton looks so much like Phantom?

Wes knew he was getting obsessive. But he had to figure this out! So he resolved right then and there, that he was going to keep a close eye on Danny Fenton whenever he could and try to figure him out. After all, Wes always did like a good mystery...

* * *

In Mr. Lancer's class, Wes habitually tapped his pencil against his desk as he examined Danny Fenton. From what Wes could tell, Danny was the perfect image of someone who didn't need to be paid attention. _Average. Normal. Boring._ But Wes was starting to question if that was some sort of act. While Danny generally seemed like a normal kid, from the five minutes Wes had been watching him, he knew that there was something off about him. He just couldn't place what...

Maybe it was the way he held himself in his seat; looking like he could jump out of it at any moment. Maybe it was the way his eyes darted around the room every few minutes, intently looking for something, before returning back to Mr. Lancer (who was in the middle of yet, another painful lecture). Or maybe, it was how whenever he started tapping his foot, it never appeared to make any sound. Wes could see there was something that made Danny... different. If only he just knew what! Wes put a list together in his head about what he knew about Danny, hoping that some of it would lead to an explanation for any of the strange things Wes had noticed about him and his resemblance to Phantom.

1) Ghost hunter/scientists for parents.

2) Led a rescue mission on ghost pirate ship.

3) Has a hella smart and hot sister.

4) Looks like Danny Phantom.

5) Friends deny any relation between him and Phantom.

6) Friends probably know Phantom.

7) Constant bathroom breaks in every class for no apparent reason.

8) Always looking around for something that isn't there.

9) Tries to blend in as much as possible.

Wes sighed. But how did that all connect together? He returned his gaze to Fenton, who had suddenly stiffened in his seat. He seemed a little irritated, but then raised his hand.

"Yes Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer broke from his lecture.

"Can I be excused?" he asked sheepishly.

"Mr. Fenton, that would be the fifth time this week and last."

"Yeah, and it's not like I could help it," he gritted his teeth.

"Mr Fenton-"

"I told you that you shouldn't've drank that 32 ounce banana-Funyon milkshake, Danny," Danny's goth friend (the same goth girl who asked Wes about Phantom in the hallway) intervened.

"It – uh – seemed like a good idea at the time."

Paulina wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Did you say banana and Funyon?"

Mr. Lancer groaned, clearly not pleased with the situation at hand, "Fine. Mr. Fenton, you may leave. But I expect you to be back in under ten minutes. And in the future, you might want to refrain from drinking large quantities of liquids."

"I'll try!" Danny rushed out of the classroom door.

One of the biggest mysteries about Danny was where he was always going during class. Most people were aware that it wasn't the bathroom, but they still continued to tease him about his 'bladder problems'. Wes was more curious than ever what he did so frequently and why he couldn't just do it after school. He let his head drop on his desk. Wes knew that he was getting absolutely nowhere with this. All he needed was some kind of clue to fill in the blanks, but Danny seemed to be as withdrawn as ever.

Loud crashes echoed in the background, sounds of large masses being slammed into concrete. There was no doubt in Wes's mind that it was another ghost attack; just another everyday occurrence. Danny Phantom was probably already there, sucking the ghost up in his soup can (which in Wes's opinion, was the weirdest weapon _ever_ ). Wes mentally fussed at himself; he didn't need to be thinking about a stupid mundane ghost attack, he should be focusing on where Fenton ran off to!

Suddenly, something registered in Wes's mind. Danny's parents were ghost hunters, right? What if he was constantly running off during school to fight or observe ghosts? It sort of made sense... there were multiple ghost attacks a day, which would explain the frequency. But there were a lot of things that it didn't explain. For one, that theory didn't make sense because how would he know the ghost attacks were happening? There was plenty of ghost hunting technology that could detect ghosts, anyone could tell you that. But Danny didn't appear to have anything on him that actually could tell him where the ghosts were. Another reason it wouldn't work because Danny had never been seen at a ghost attack. He was always running _away_ from the ghosts as well.

Wes lightly chuckled to himself... _Maybe he is fighting the ghosts, but only in_ disguise. He relished his humorous thoughts before something dawned on him: there could be actual truth to that. Wes's eyes were saucers as the final puzzle piece fell in place.

 _Danny_ Fenton _fights ghosts, but he is never seen fighting the ghosts. That's because Danny_ Phantom _is the one that is always battling the ghosts. Danny Fenton looks like Danny Phantom. And that's because... Danny Fenton_ is _Danny Phantom._

* * *

 **Muahaha Wes** ** _knows._** **This literally proves that all you need to figure out Fenton is Phantom is an ill-timed 'bathroom break' and common sense.**


	4. Fate Hates Danny

Chapter Three: Fate Hates Danny

* * *

Wes felt like his entire world view was flipped upside down. All of a sudden it was like Australia was in the Northern Hemisphere and the North Pole was now the South Pole (scientifically speaking, the North Pole _is_ the South Pole, but whatever). Wes's mind was filled with endless amounts of questions that he didn't know where to begin answering. How the actual fuck could a human be a ghost? How would it even work? How could someone be alive and dead at the same time? ( _Schrödinger's cat,_ Wes's brain reminded him. _But it's only a theory, so it won't help you here._ )

Even though it made absolutely no sense from a scientific stand point, it made a bunch of other things make sense. It filled in all the gaps in the mystery of Danny Fenton. Danny Fenton looked like Danny Phantom because the two are the same person. Wes had came to the conclusion that Tucker probably knew Phantom, and since he and Danny are friends, he probably knows Danny's secret. It explained his frequent absence in class: Danny Phantom was seen fighting ghosts all over town through different parts of the day. It also kind of explained Justin's story about him leading a rescue mission on a ghost pirate ship. And since he fights ghosts all the time, it would make sense why he was constantly on edge. Wes supposed fighting spectral threats all the time gave you paranoia.

What Wes couldn't understand is why Danny would want to keep all of this a secret. He could be actually famous, _popular_. After all, everybody loved Danny Phantom; he was the town's hero. So why didn't he tell everyone who he was? Wes knew one thing for sure: now that he knew, he had to tell everybody. Once everybody found out that Fenton was Phantom, they would leave him alone, _for good_.

* * *

"I think I figured out why Fenton is so weird," Wes mentioned to Justin as they walked to the former's house after basketball practice.

"Does it also explain why you believe he looks like Phantom's twin?" Justin raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I don't really see it."

"That's the thing Justin. It may sound crazy, but I _know_ that Fenton is actually Phantom."

Justin backtracked, "Huh?"

"Danny Fenton," Wes said slowly, "is Danny Phantom."

"Sure..." Justin said. "And Dash is Trump. Actually... they're both sexist, obsessed with size, and have horrible hair... I might be on to something."

"Justin, listen to me for a second. I'm actually serious!"

Justin scoffed, "You're telling me, you believe that loser Danny Fenton, the son of Amity Park's most well-known ghost hunters, is the town's ghost-fighting hero?"

"Yeah. I mean, once you think about it, it actually makes sense," Wes said.

"I think you're just fucking with me and trying to see how gullible I am. I mean, this wouldn't be the first time. I'm still mad at you for that time last year when you convinced me that Mr. Lancer was transgender."

Wes gaped at him, "What was I supposed to think?! There is a picture on his fucking desk of him wearing a dress! Then there was that one time where he came out of the girl's bathroom-"

"Wes, that picture is of his sister. Believe me, I asked him," Justin said grimly.

"That picture _is_ of him in a dress! You're just too thick-headed to see it! Just like you're too thick-headed to see that _Danny fucking Fenton_ is actually Phantom!"

"Okay, just for a second, let's say that he is. Now explain to me how he would able to be both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom at once. In Phantom's Phan Club, we've read all kinds of different texts on ghosts. All of them support the fact that humans can't have ghost powers."

Wes met eye contact with Justin, "But do you really believe that's true? What about that time at North Mercy Hospital?"

"Wes," Justin said, "I can't believe I'm arguing with you about this. We were told that everything we think happened at North Mercy Hospital was the result of the sickness we all contracted and drugs.

"Yeah, and that totally doesn't sound like a cover-up," Wes rolled his eyes.

Justin sighed, "Look dude, I know you're having a hard time with everyone calling you Phantom, but you're starting to scare me. Sure, you've always been the conspiracy theorists, but this is an honest to God delusion. I think you might need to see the counselor."

Wes grimaced, "I don't talk to shrinks. Besides, I'm in my right mind. It's you that refuses to see the truth."

"Wes..."

"Wes what? You think I'm crazy?"

"No, it's just, I think you're inventing things to distract yourself from everyone calling you Phantom."

"Am I inventing the way that Danny Fenton runs off whenever a ghost is around? Explain that."

"He's from a family of ghost hunters. The poor kid's probably scared of them."

"So now he's 'poor kid'? He hasn't done anything to be a 'poor kid'. All of this is his fault."

Deciding that he didn't want to spend anymore time around Justin, Wes took off in the opposite direction towards his apartment. _I'll make him see soon enough,_ Wes resolved. _I'll make everyone see._ Wes continued towards his apartment, oblivious to the world around him. He thought about what Justin had said, _'In Phantom's Phan Club, we've read all kinds of different texts on ghosts. All of them support the fact that humans can't have ghost powers.'_ So how was it possible that Fenton could be Phantom? Wes was more determined than ever to find out. As he walked, a theory came to life in his mind. He figured that humans can't have ghost powers, but maybe Danny isn't a human. Maybe he's just a ghost masquerading as a human. That lead to the question... has Danny always been a ghost?

Wes remembered that at one point, Danny had been in his Kindergarten class. Once, Danny had brought in a few of his parents' ghost inventions for show and tell. Wes had felt one-upped after everyone's attention had left his Michael Jordan action figure and marveled over Danny's ghost whatchamacallit. Had Danny been a ghost then? Or did Danny die sometime along the way, and was still pretending to be alive? Was Danny even Danny? Maybe, a ghost killed the real Danny and took his place, and transformed into Phantom when he needed to. _No,_ Wes told himself, _that can't be right. Tucker and that Manson girl clearly know his secret. If they knew that it wasn't really Danny, they wouldn't be hanging around him. And he can't be threatening them... the three of them are literally connected at the hips. Their friendship is too real for him to be threatening them. Therefore, they're keeping the secret of their own choice._

Wes finally reached his apartment. Once he was inside the confines of his own room, he would set to work in proving that Fenton was Phantom... Wes pulled open the door only to be faced with his father... _just great._

"Wes, did you get the mail?" Walter asked. "I'm expecting an invitation from Vlad."

"No, I didn't get the mail. I have... homework to do."

Walter ran a hand through his hair, "It can wait. Go get the mail."

"Why don't you do it?" Wes said. "Who knows, you might find a life in one of those letters."

"I have a life, thank you very much. The two of us are going to a dinner party at Vlad's mansion this weekend." Walter paused, remembering why he was telling this to Wes, "Go get the mail."

"What are those things growing out of your ass? Do it yourself." Wes remarked snidely.

"Excuse me, young man, where is your respect?"

"Mom has it," Wes called, as he brushed pass his father and into his room. He hadn't meant to be exclusively rude to his Dad... it's just, Wes was too focused on this. That, and he was not looking forward to any party that included Vlad Masters in it. He'd have to find a way out of it before the weekend (it was only Tuesday after all). Wes opened his laptop, hardly thinking at all before he typed the words 'Danny Phantom' into the browser.

* * *

Danny really wanted to kill Spectra – but seeing as she was already dead, that would defeat the purpose. He arrived at school on Friday thirty minutes late with almost two hours of sleep. All he wanted was to just sink into the background and maybe sleep a little during classes when nobody was looking. But fate, using the mouth of Wes Weston, decided to fuck with him. Honestly, Danny should have been a little more worried that Wes was spilling his secret he fought so hard to protect, but at this point he was so tired he hardly even cared.

It had started in between second and third period. Danny had been on his way to his locker, ready to just phase his hand through and pray nobody looked in his direction when he saw Wes marching up to the A-Listers with a notebook. What took Danny aback was that Wes looked as nearly sleep deprived as himself. Despite having been halfway across the noisy hallway, Danny was able to hear every word Wes was saying with his enhanced hearing.

"I've found out Danny Phantom's secret!" Wes said excitedly.

Danny rolled his eyes. _Sure_ he did. He was probably planning on making a move on Paulina; everyone knew the best way to get her attention was to start talking about Phantom. There were some moments Danny was willing to take advantage of that, but decided against it so he wouldn't risk his secret. Besides, Sam would kill him... again.

"You mean, your secret, _Phantom_?" Dash threw at Wes.

"No," Wes said quickly. "The actual Danny Phantom. Or should I say Danny Fenton. Believe it or not, I've figured out that Danny Fenton _is_ Danny Phantom."

 _Fuck._ Danny hadn't been expecting that. How the hell did he figure it out? When did he figure it out? Ever since Jazz found out, he's been especially careful of making sure he was completely out of sight when he transformed. And now... what was gonna-

"Buhahahaha!" Dash cackled. "You don't- mean- that- that- literally? Do you?"

 _Thank God._ Danny thought. _Still as ignorant as ever. That means I can go back to being half-asleep. My heart rate almost went up to a normal heart beat for once._

"Yeah," Wes said. "I do mean it literally. Once you look at it all, it makes sense."

"You think that Fenton's dead?" Star asked. Danny felt her eyes move her way over to where he was standing. "Doesn't look dead, moron."

"That's because his human form is a disguise. Or maybe he's some kind of hybrid. I haven't figured that part out yet."

 _How much_ has _he figured out?_ Danny wondered.

"And... why does this make sense to you? If I'm not mistaken, this is just another ploy for you to divert attention away from yourself," Dash said. "I may not be the smartest, but I won't believe anything."

"But this is true! Danny Fenton can turn into Danny Phantom. It's the reason he always cuts class: to fight ghosts!"

"Fenton can't even fight a human. How the hell would he be able to fight ghosts?"

"But he can fight! Remember the whole pirate ship thing last year?" Wes reasoned.

"How do you know about that?" Dash snarled. "You weren't even there, dipshit. If you were, you would happen to know that Fenton was thrown off the ship by a bunch of ghosts, then saved by Phantom."

"Wes, just shut the hell up right now," Paulina said. "It's like goth-girl said in the cafeteria the other day. Humans can't be ghosts."

"If Fenton is Phantom, and Manson knew about it, of course she would say that. She's covering for him!"

"It's scie- scientaef- scientific fact, moron!" Kwan said.

Danny internally groaned. He had heard enough of this. He turned away from his locker and slowly started approaching the group of A-Listers that had ganged up on Wes. "Did I hear my name?"

"Fentonia!" Dash said. "This crackhead thinks you're a ghost."

Danny scrunched up his face in confusion, "A ghost? I'm sorry dude, but have you met my parents? I think they'd ground me if I was a ghost."

"Y- you- you-" Wes stuttered.

"Besides, you're not cool enough to be my one true love..." Paulina said dreamily. _Well, that stung._

"Speaking of not being cool enough..." Dash grabbed Danny's shirt. "I'm pretty sure we missed this morning's wailing. Here, I'll prove to Weston that you're too puny to be the ghost-boy."

Danny sighed. Fate really did hate him.

* * *

 **I have state testing tomorrow, but instead I'm posting this at midnight... Oh well. Technically I** ** _am_** **studying for English.**


	5. Get Help Wes, You Freaking Psycho

Chapter Four: Get Help Wes, You Freaking Psycho

* * *

Danny walked down the hallway, keeping his books close to his chest as he tried to listen to what the students around him were talking about (the perks of having ghost hearing). A conversation between two girls from his Physics class captured his attention.

"Didn't you hear? Phantom's lost his marbles!"

"The ghost kid?"

"No you idiot. Weston from the basketball team! He's trying to convince everyone that the son of the ghost hunters is a ghost so he can draw attention away from himself."

"Sounds pretty smart to me. I mean, by harassing someone else, nobody thinks twice about you."

"Did you hear the bit about trying to convince everyone that the ghost hunters' son is a ghost?"

"What, _Fenton_? That dork?"

Danny lightly chuckled to himself. What a relief. It'd been two days since Wes started telling anyone with half a head that Danny was Phantom, and one day since he started bringing in charts to support his claims. Thankfully, everyone thought Wes was too nuts to actually consider the truth in what he was saying. For the time being, he decided against confronting Wes about how he discovered his secret. It's not like there was any harm in letting Wes tell everyone that he was Danny Phantom; there was no way anyone would ever believe him. If someone told Danny that one of his classmates was a dead superhero, he wouldn't believe them either. Besides, Danny confronting Wes would only make people suspicious.

On the bright side, Sam, despite her over-protective behavior lately, didn't take it as bad as Danny thought she would. He, Sam, and Tucker had all been standing near Danny's locker when Wes appeared out of nowhere. He was in the company of both Kwan and Star who looked like they were about to die of laughter. To them, Wes was their dancing monkey.

"Come on," Wes said, gesturing towards where Danny and his friends where trying to blend into the lockers, "it must be Fenton, it's so obvious!"

Star snorted while Kwan doubles over laughing. "Heh, whatever you say, PHANTOM!" Kwan collects himself before dramatically throwing a crumpled up wanted poster of Phantom from a few months prior at Wes's face.

Sam, slightly on edge, leans over to Danny, "Aren't you gonna stop him? He's kinda spilling your secret..."

Danny, seemingly unaffected by this, shrugs, "Nah. If everyone thinks he's Phantom no one gives me a second look."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Danny," Tucker says.

"Of course I do. I mean, everyone thinks Wes is delusional. Nobody's going to stand around and think there could be any truth to what he's saying."

"But what if someone _does_?" Sam asks. "What about Valerie?"

Tucker snorted, "Valerie's smart. But, her mind is not ready to connect Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom yet."

"She knows about halfas. I mean, she's even met Elle!" Sam hissed.

"True..." Danny thought, "but it's not like I can tell Wes to stop telling people I'm Phantom. If I did that, it would attract even more attention to me. People might actually start getting suspicious."

"You're right," Tucker said. "And besides, what's the worst that could-"

"NO!" Danny and Sam screamed simultaneously.

"Tucker, we have three rules." Sam said, "What are they again?"

Tucker sighed, "One: Not saying the word 'wish' under any circumstances. Two: Avoiding the topic of ghosts around Danny's parents unless necessary. Three: Never asking what's the worst that could happen."

"Good," Sam said. "Break the rules again, and _I_ break your precious Marilyn."

Tucker flinched, clutching his PDA (AKA Marilyn), "Not my baby!"

* * *

Wes was having no luck in convincing the student body that Fenton was Phantom. Everybody assumed that he was just trying to draw attention away from himself, so they didn't even consider anything he was saying. It was starting to drive him crazy! It was all Fenton's fault! He could just tell everyone that he was Phantom, but instead he let Wes just look like a fool. _That fucking hypocrite._ He _was_ going to expose Danny... and he wouldn't stop until everyone in this town knew the truth.

In the past two days, Wes had gotten no more than six hours asleep altogether. In his room, he printed out picture after picture of Danny, comparing his human form to his ghost form. He made charts recording the times of ghost attacks compared to Fenton's bathrooms breaks (he _maybe_ stole the bathroom records from the front office). He also did extensive research on ghosts that could disguise themselves as humans, and after determining that Fenton didn't fit the criteria, he figured that he must be some kind of ghost-human hybrid. He had found a useful article written by some doctor in Wisconsin about twenty years ago that suggested the existence of hybrids. However, not long after its initial publication the author had been admitted to a mental institution.

He had presented his evidence to anyone he could get to listen, and yet, nobody believed him. Hell, most people were starting to call him insane. One girl even suggested that he talk to Jazz Fenton, Casper High's own psychology expert. Wes thinks the girl meant well, but he knew it was just a nice way of saying, ' _Get help, you fucking psycho_.' Besides, was he really supposed to go to _Fenton's sister_ and tell her he thought her brother was Danny Phantom?

 _Yeah, Wes didn't think so._

On Friday afternoon, Wes was more determined than ever to get actual physical evidence that Fenton and Phantom were the same, so somehow, he found himself tailing Danny, Sam, and Tucker on their way home from school. Wes grasped his Polaroid; he was ready for this.

"Ugh!" Sam let out a groan, "I can't believe that freaking Weston kid today. He tried asking me if I was 'aware of your deceased state of being'. It took everything I had not to sucker-punch him right there."

Danny snorted, "So did you tell him about my deadness?"

Tucker laughed with Danny. "So, what'd you actually tell him?"

Sam crossed her arms, "I told him that I was _aware_ , that he needed serious help for unhealthy delusions and that he might need to talk to a shrink."

"Maybe we can hook him up with Spectra?" Tucker suggested.

"Nah, what's the point of making the kid go crazier? According to what Jazz told me, it'll only make him more determined. I say we let him think he's crazy, but not too much, that way he'll give up on his own terms," Sam explained, as if she was mimicking Jazz from memory. "He has to accept that he's wrong and too much frustration will have the opposite effect from what we've seen so far."

"But what if we can't convince him he's crazy?" Tucker asked.

"I don't really want to pretend like he's crazy, because it makes me feel a little guilty, but I'll do what I have to for my secret," Danny sighed. "I'm just relieved that no one's believed him, yet."

"I wouldn't feel guilty or anything, Danny," Tucker reassure earnestly. "If he wanted to reveal you, he should've confronted you first before telling everyone else."

"For now, I just say we keep our distance." Sam declared, with a demeanor clear of pity. "We – you," she corrected, "don't owe him anything. He's doing it to himself."

"I wouldn't say that..." Danny rubbed the back of his neck, "but I get what you mean. I don't trust him, so I'll do my best to play dumb and lead him in the other direction. In addition, there's also the chance that someone else will catch on and this'll become an even bigger mess!"

"Well, everyone's dumb, so hopefully we won't have to worry about that." Somehow it was amazing how Sam managed to sound both cynical and optimistic at the same time.

"Do you think you'll ever have to tell him?" Tucker said changed the subject. "I mean, if he still knows your secret and stops trying to tell the entire school."

"In that case, I don't think I even _can_ tell him until he stops trying to tell everyone my secret. Until he does that, I'm sticking with the plan. Who knows? If he stops being a lunatic, he could be an ally. _If_."

The three had arrived in front of the Nasty Burger. Wes still lingered somewhere behind them, his camera ready for something amazing to happen. Even though he was trailing them, there was an autumn wind blowing their words away. He couldn't exactly hear everything they were talking about, but from what he could gather, it was about him.

"From what I've seen, he'll have to take some serious chill-pills to stop being a lunatic. Anyway, I say we discuss this _after_ we get some grub," Tucker's stomach audibly growled. "I'm starving."

"Then you're paying," Sam laughed, before the three of them disappeared inside the restaurant.

* * *

Wes stayed up until around 6:00 a.m. collecting evidence, since it was the weekend. He crashed somewhere around 6:30, sprawled out on his bed, surrounded by various pictures of Danny, colored pencils, and an empty can of Orange Crush soda. Afterwards, he slept until three in the afternoon when his Dad came barging into his room.

"Wes, I've let you sleep all day, but you should start trying to wake up by now! You have about an hour before you need to get ready so we can leave on time for Vlad's dinner party!"

Vlad's dinner party? What? Oh right... _that_. In the past few days, Wes had completely forgotten about Mr. Masters latest party. Wes usually managed to get out of them a few days before by telling his Dad he had some kind of basketball thing... but in the chaos in the past week Wes had neglected to make an excuse. Knowing Walter, there was absolutely no way Wes would be able to wriggle out of it this time. _Just great_. Four hours of staying in a 500 ft radius of Vlad Masters, rich bastard extraordinaire. And it was at the worst timing too; Wes was positive that he was close to getting some actual evidence on Danny! It was only a matter of time!

By 5:30 p.m. both Wes and Walter were dressed in nice suits and ready to leave for Vlad's mansion. An actual limo arrived in front of their apartment, courtesy of Vlad. Honestly, Wes was tempted to defile the limo in some fashion, and probably would've if it hadn't been for his father sitting next to him.

Wes remembered the first time he met Vlad Masters. He'd been in the fourth grade and his Dad decided to finally bring him along to Vlad's annual Christmas party. Wes had been excited at first, because it combined two things he loved: Christmas and parties. It was kind of devastating when he realized that he was the youngest person there and that it wasn't much of a party. It was mostly just old guys talking and drinking 'grown up drinks'. After about an hour into the event, Walter had dragged Wes to go meet his boss.

"He's a very generous man," Walter had said. "So be _polite_."

Wes had awkwardly looked up from his feet to match eye contact with the maliciously grinning man in front of him. He had long white hair and chilling blue eyes that seemed to pierce the soul. Wes shivered, there was something scary about this man.

"Ah..." Vlad held out his hand for Wes to shake it, "you must be young Wesley. I've heard so much about you. I hope that one day you grow to be as successful as your father here."

"It's just Wes," he corrected, letting go of Vlad's hand. He unconsciously rubbed it; Vlad's skin had been unnaturally cold. Not to mention that his voice itself was unnerving.

"Of course... So you're in the fourth grade now? You live in Amity Park like your father?"

"Where else would I live? I'm ten, I can't live alone."

"Yes, yes, it's just I have some very old colleagues in Amity. Though, I haven't spoken to them in about fifteen years. Funny how time flies by..."

"I don't know. Tonight seems really slow," Wes said.

Vlad smirked, "The mindset of youth. Oh how I miss it. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you Wesle – sorry, Wes, but your father and I have some business stuff we need to discuss..."

Over the years, Wes tried to avoid any alone time with Vlad. There was just something off about that man, and it had nothing to do with his wealth. Hell, he somehow even managed everyone in his hometown to vote for him as mayor in a matter of days. _Maybe he sold he soul to the devil or something_ , Wes thought bitterly. _Because that would explain_ a lot.

The limo finally pulled up to Vlad's mansion. Wes followed his father out of the vehicle with dread. All he had to do was survive one night. That was it, one night in a house with Vlad Masters. How hard could it be, right?

* * *

 *** I like to imagine that when Vlad first became a halfa, somebody in the hospital would notice something off about him. So I gave the impression that the aforementioned doctor had found something out about Vlad's condition and published an article contemplating hybrids. Vlad probably overshadowed him, made him do some questionable actions, and forced him into a mental institution. Even though he has the ability to do worse, I don't think he would be able to mercilessly kill someone at that point in his life.**

 **Also, sorry I haven't been replying to reviews. I really haven't had the time to do much due to end of the year testing.**


	6. Yep, Vlad's That Kind of Rich Guy

Chapter Five: Yep, Vlad's _That_ Kind of Rich Guy

* * *

Preppy rich douche-bags? _Check_. Horrible old people music? _Check_. Amity Park's egotistical mayor in the center of attention? _Check_.

"Walter!" Vlad called happily (Wes doubted that it was genuine happiness), "I've been waiting for you to arrive."

"Got here as quick as I could thanks to the limo you sent."

"Well," Vlad smirked, "money _does_ have it's benefits."

Wes wanted to grab one of the spare steak-knives laying around and gouge out his eyeballs. This party was _not_ off to a good start.

"Oh, and I see that Wesley's managed to make it here for once."

A bubble of rage flared up in Wes's stomach. He _knew_ that he hated that name. He told him every time they met, but yet Vlad continued to use it like he owned Wes. And that very thought was completely disgusting to him. Wes Weston was _not_ inferior to creepy Vlad Masters, not in the slightest. Sick of Vlad's little games, Wes snapped.

"Why do you insist on calling me by the one name I always have to remind you to refrain from using?" Wes spat, clenching his fists.

The billionaire noted Wes's outburst with a twisted satisfaction. Vlad curled his lip, "Nice to know that your bluntness hasn't changed since the last time we spoke."

"Good to know you still have the same brand of eyeliner," Wes fired back.

Suddenly, Wes was pulled back by his father, "Wes!" Walter intervened. "What has gotten into you? I'm very sorry Vlad, he's just in a mood."

"Or maybe... I just hate your job?" Wes suggested, shrugging.

"Wes, shut up. Apologize to Vlad, _now_ ," his Dad hissed.

"Which do I do? Shut up or apologize? Because if I have to choose, I opt to choose shut up."

"It's alright, Walter," Vlad said. "I'm plenty familiar with teenage attitude, trust me."

"But you don't have any kids," Wes remarked.

"That doesn't mean I don't have to put up with any," Vlad said, before walking off to talk to some local reporters. He was out of earshot (well, human earshot anyway) in a matter of seconds.

Wes turned back to his father, "So are we just going to ignore how creepy and possibly pervy that sounded or...?"

Walter sighed, clearly disappointed in his son, "I honestly don't know what to do you with you Wes. I thought you were going to behave yourself tonight."

"He started it..." Wes argued with the attitude of a five-year old. Walter was not having any of it.

"No," he said bitterly, " _you_ antagonized him. Wes, let this ring clear in your mind: Vlad is somebody you do not want to mess with. If you're on his bad side, you're as good as dead."

"You realize you're making your own boss sound like a serial killer."

"Wes-"

"I don't want to hear anymore about Vlad. I'll just do my thing and avoid everyone here, and you can do your thing and be social or whatever the hell you do."

"Son please-"

"Starting... now. I'm going to go get some hopefully non-alcoholic punch." Wes left his flabbergasted father standing in the midst of the party alone as he hunted for something fun to do that _didn't_ involve Vlad.

* * *

Wes broke off from the party pretty quickly. Instead, he decided to explore Vlad's new mansion (he'd only visited his old one in Wisconsin) and maybe steal or hide some of his things. Wes wasn't normally a kleptomaniac, but he honestly just wanted to piss Vlad off. After all, the man had money and could easily replace almost anything.

Wes's eyes lit up when he found Vlad's personal Packers memorabilia room. _Jackpot!_ Practically everyone knew that Vlad had an unhealthy obsession with the Green Bay Packers, Wes had even heard that he tried to actually buy the team on multiple occasions. Wes surveyed the room with a hint of disgust, Vlad was too rich for his own good. He was pretty sure that most of the stuff here belonged in some kind of sports museum, not to some wannabe-politician billionaire in Illinois. Wes smirked to himself. _What should he hide first?_

Wes skirted across the room, briefly looking at all the Packers merchandise. He was about to grab a golden watch with the Packers colors on the face, when he accidentally tripped over a table corner and stumbled to the floor. Being a basketball player, stumbling to the ground wasn't that foreign to him, but with these steel floors... _damn, it hurt._ Wes tried pulling himself up by grabbing onto a metal football decoration jutting out of the wall. The only thing was, as soon as he tried pulling himself up, the football bent downwards and made a weird clicking noise. Still on the floor, Wes watched in fascination as a the wall moved apart, revealing a secret archway behind it. _No fucking way. Vlad's mansion has a secret room... Dude, this is getting more and more like a horror movie. What if he_ is _a homicidal vampire?_

Wes finally got to his feet and moved towards the new secret opening. Even though it was dark, he could make out a stairwell leading downwards into the unknown. Years of watching horror movies told Wes that going forward was a bad idea... but damn it, he was curious! He had always known Vlad Masters was hiding something, how could he not be? Going down there might provide _some_ answers. Besides, the party wouldn't end for another two hours. What was the harm in looking around a little?

Wes descended down the staircase, holding onto the wall in case something happened. When he finally made it to the bottom, automatic lights flickered on, letting Wes get his first glance of his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of basement... but not an ordinary basement. This looked more like Dr. Frankenstein sort of shit. There were weird chambers bordering the walls, shiny lab-tables, and vials of red and green substances.

"Never pinned him for the mad scientist type," Wes muttered. "Maybe this is where he hides the bodies..."

Wes almost had a heart-attack when a voice answered him.

"Sweetums, are you back already? Your schedule states that the party lasts for two more hours."

Wes turned on his heels to come face to face with a hologram of Maddie Fenton, Danny's mother, renowned ghost hunter and researcher. _What the actual fuck, Vlad?_

"You're not Sweetums," she said robotically. "Security system 021300 activated. Low-level threat. Unregistered human, adolescence. Shutting down ghost systems, closing portal..."

Wes was once again surprised when there was a loud noise behind him. He turned to see an octagonal archway, glowing with a green haze start to close. Black and yellow doors slid together to secure the weird hole in the wall. Wes held his breath, _This keeps getting weirder and weirder. When am I going to find something that actually makes sense?_

"Wesley Weston, what the hell are you doing in my _secret_ lab!" _Oh fuck..._

Vlad had entered the lab, and was wearing a look of complete rage. For a moment, Wes swore that he was just a giant Angry Face emoji, storming towards him. Wes's fear finally recovered itself, twisting in his stomach, gluing his feet to the oddly slick floor. Vlad faced Wes, pointedly waiting for an answer.

Wes's mouth was dry, "I got lost on the way to the bathroom?"

It came out more like a question than an answer, and it obviously didn't please Vlad. _He was so_ dead _. Just wait until his Dad found out..._

Vlad scoffed, "Got lost? I'm no fool. Nobody finds this place unless they want to find it. You've been snooping around my house!"

"Snooping... exploring... same dif."

"You do not explore a millionaire's house!"

"But isn't that how Narnia started? If it wasn't for wandering around in that rich guy's house, they would've never found the Wardrobe."

Vlad face-palmed, "Have you actually read _The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe_?"

"No," Wes admitted.

Vlad sighed, "Though you're irresponsible, you should be grateful that I'm here to kill you before any of the dangerous stuff in this lab will."

Wes snorted, "Dangerous stuff? The only dangerous thing I see here is your ego."

"That portal, the thing in the wall with the black and yellow doors, that's a hole to another dimension. A dimension full of dead and powerful things that will actually haunt (and maybe eat) your nightmares. I'm lucky I got here when I did so you didn't break anything."

"How did you even know I was here anyway? You were on the other side of the house. That also doesn't explain how you got here so quickly."

"It's my house, I have shortcuts!" Vlad snapped. "And the security system alerted me. Ever since that goth girl snuck in last April Fools Day and put God-damn condoms on everything, painted my cat, and replaced all my personal files with Ember McClain CDs, I've had the Maddiegram tell me whenever someone was in the lab," Vlad scowled.

Wes whistled, "Who did all of that? Because I think I owe them a thank you card."

"Nobody of importance," Vlad said. "Now stop standing in my fucking lab, and get the hell upstairs – where you _will not_ mention this to your father. You hear me? One word, and I will make several lacerations to your tongue."

"But I don't even know what this place is! What do you need a lab for anyway? You're a little _too rich_ , don't you think?"

"What this lab if for, you stupid boy, is killing _insolent little ginger clowns_ who disobey my orders!"

"Alright... don't get your panties in a twist."

* * *

Later that night, after Wes's horrible encounter with Amity Park's mayor, he approached his Dad, hoping that he could maybe shed light on the topic. Even though Vlad warned him, he doubted that he could live up to his threats if he didn't know.

"Hey Dad," Wes said, "Can I ask you something?"

Walter raised an eyebrow, "If it's more girl advice, I think we've already established that that Star girl is way out of your league. You should only go for realistic relationships, son."

"No not that, and _really_? You're pretty fu- screwed up to have that little faith in your son. Anyway, I was wondering if I could ask you about something."

Wes told his tale of what he saw at Vlad's house, and by the end of it his Father was looking grim. Walter sighed, putting his hands in his hand before maintaining eye contact with Wes. "Son, in this town there are some things that you don't question. That's the first lesson you learn about being a successful money-maker. I don't want to hear anything about that ever again, got it?"

Wes knew that something was off, but he did as he father said. After all, Walter was _never_ that serious.

* * *

 **I feel that Vlad's a little OOC, but probably because Wes and Vlad have a completely different relationship than Vlad and Danny.**


	7. The Official Superhero Test

Chapter Six: The Official Superhero Test

* * *

"Look Danny, I know what you've said, I just don't get how you're so calm about this," Sam took a sip out of her milk carton. As normal, she, Danny, and Tucker were all sitting alone at lunch – completely ignored by the rest of the student body.

"I'm not calm. I just have nothing I can do about it right now," Danny told her, casually stabbing a rubbery piece of ham.

"Danny's right Sam," Tucker said. "Everyone thinks Wes is crazy. No matter how much evidence Wes is able to put together, no one will _ever_ believe him."

Sam's eyes flared, "I'm not talking about our pain in the ass stalker, Tucker. I'm not even worried about him after our talk at the Nasty Burger. Have you guys even been listening to me? I'm talking about how your parents aren't letting you see the new Dumpty Humpty concert with us! We've had the tickets for months!"

Danny shrugged, "My grades are in the toilet. The only way they know how to respond is to take away my social life, even though I don't have much of one because of the ghosts. Sometimes I just wish that I could tell them why I'm such a disappointment, but it'd probably just end with them getting in the way or doing a bunch of research on me. Not to mention just how plain weird everything would be once they knew that I was half gho – oh, hi Wes."

Much to the trio's exasperation, Wes found himself sitting across from Danny and Tucker and next to Sam in a matter of seconds. The red-head had a determined look on his face, "I just want to know why you won't admit it. I mean, think of all the recognition you would get by just telling everyone you're Phantom."

Danny swallowed a spoonful of lumpy mashed potatoes before looking Wes dead (no pun intended) in the eye, "You really still believe that? Of all the people in Casper High to have a creepy obsession about, why did it have to be me? Why not Mikey or someone? And how would I even 'be' Phantom. If you haven't noticed, I'm very much alive."

On some level, Danny felt kind of proud of himself for that lie. He pushed the feeling of pride down and looked at Wes.

"Maybe right now," Wes answered simply. "But you can _turn_ into Phantom. Somehow you're both, dead and alive. Ghost and human, like some kind of hybrid."

"You read too much sci-fi," Tucker commented. "And I gotta ask, where did you even come up with this 'Danny is Phantom' idea anyway? It's kind of... illogical."

From the tone that he used, everyone there could sense that Tucker was about to say 'insane' rather than 'illogical'.

Wes humphed, "I didn't make it up, it's the truth. The other day in class, you left for a bathroom break – and I could hear a ghost attack across town. I got this random thought that maybe you ditched class so often to ghost hunt because your parents are ghost hunters. Then all of a sudden everything made sense: you're Danny Phantom."

"And where was this 'sense'?" Sam said in finger quotes.

"Look Wes," Danny said, "I know that you've convinced yourself of this, but you have to let it go, it's not healthy. You look like you haven't slept in a week and earlier I got a glimpse of your science test grade. You need to be focused on your studies rather than some fictional obsession. Even though you might find it hard to believe, it's scientific fact that humans can't have ghost powers, at all. The entire concept of humans turning into ghosts and coming back alive is impossible. If you want to know about it, maybe you can ask my parents."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker shared a look for a moment. They all knew never to intentionally go to the Fentons for ghost information, otherwise it ended badly. Such as the time Jack was explaining the portal and Danny had to fight off two ectopusses behind his dad's back.

" _I'm right_ ," Wes said impertinently. "And sooner or later, your dirty little secret's going to slip out whether you like it or not."

"If my 'dirty little secret' is the fact that I'm supposedly Phantom, haven't you already been announcing that to the entire school for over a week?"

Wes grunted and stood up from the table, "Watch your back, Phantom."

Danny smiled in a joking manner, "And you watch your's, _Phantom_." Only Sam and Tucker saw his eyes momentarily flash green.

* * *

Wes was seriously pissed off. He's been beating himself up collecting evidence that Danny Fenton is Phantom, and nobody was even looking at it! Why couldn't they see that they were all fools? If that wasn't bad, his mind was still hurting from trying to figure out what that whole encounter with Vlad the other night had been about. He hadn't brought it up around his Dad again, but nothing added up. Maybe he could ask Danny what was up with the hologram of his Mom... _Are you crazy?_ he chided himself. There was no way in hell he was fraternizing with the enemy. _Especially_ after that encounter at lunch earlier in the day. He could tell Fenton was enjoying his suffering... he could just _tell_.

With his social life in ribbons, Wes hoped that he could find sanctum in basketball like he normally did. But even there, he was taunted by the fact that everyone believed him to be off his rocker.

When he reached his basketball locker... he was met with a horrible collage of all things 'Phantom' on the door. Random pictures of Danny Phantom were taped to the door, as well as notes that just said 'Wessie Phantom' or 'Approach With Caution: Danny Phantom's Locker'. What angered him the most were the ones mocking his theory that Fenton was Phantom.

"What's wrong Phantom, is there something wrong with your locker?" one of the other guys asked. Instantly, all chatter in the locker room died down and all eyes were on Wes. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Justin was giving him a sympathetic look.

Not wanting to give them the satisfaction, Wes went forward and began to unlock his locker. He'd deal with all the Phantom shit taped to it later. As Wes was putting on his uniform, he heard a few guys laughing about Fenton being Phantom and finally lost it. It wasn't fair that nobody believed him. Why was he the crazy one? He had all the evidence, everyone else just refused to see it!

Wes slammed his locker shut, sending a few pictures of Phantom fluttering to the floor, "Are you guys seriously this fucking dense! They even have the same name for Christ's sake! _Danny_ Fenton, _Danny_ Phantom."

Everyone was staring again... _just great._ One of the guys started laughing, prompting everyone else to join. Now the entire locker room was engulfed in laughter.

"'Christ'? Didn't figure you were a religious type, being a ghost and all Phantom," someone called.

Wes narrowed his eyes,"It's a figure of speech dickface. And don't call me Phantom!"

Before the situation, Wes left the locker room, which was still in hysterics. He was sick of being everyone's clown, but he wouldn't stop trying. Fenton... Phantom... Fenton... Phantom... both of them Danny. Was it really that hard to put together?

* * *

Two days later, after the locker room incident on Wednesday, September 21st Wes had a mission. The idea had struck him somewhere around his second cup of coffee the night before, and he decided to test it out as soon as possible. He was ready... he just hoped Danny would be.

That morning before the tardy bell rang in Mr. Lancer's, Wes lingered around Mr. Lancer's desk. Wes kept an eager eye on the clock, there were seven minutes left before class started. He could only hope that Danny arrived to class before it started, otherwise he would have to wait to put his plan in action until the next day he arrived on time. But Wes felt good about his chances. After a short observation period, there was a 3:5 probability rate that Danny would arrive on time, especially since neither Sam nor Tucker were here yet. Wes noticed that Danny was typically late on days when Sam and Tucker arrived to class before him, and since they were both absent, there was still hope.

"Alright guys," Wes said to the students who had already sat in their seats, "if he manages to get here on time, watch Fenton. I have a plan."

Two or three people groaned, "This isn't you still trying to convince people that Fenton's a ghost, is it? Just let it go, _Phantom_."

Wes rolled his eyes, "Maybe, if you pay attention, you'll realize the true Phantom hiding right in front of you. Just trust me."

"Whatever, ghost-boy."

Three minutes before the bell rang, the trio walked into the classroom. A few people looked at them inconspicuously, curious what Wes was scheming, but most ignored them as usual. Wes stopped haphazardly leaning on Mr. Lancer's desk; it was go time. When Danny was walking pass him, Wes frantically turned around in a haste and knocked Mr. Lancer's blue "Shakespeare is Love, Shakespeare is Life" mug off of his desk. Wes smirked. This was a test to see if Danny would use his powers to impossibly stop the mug from breaking, I mean, every superhero has a hero complex, right? Wes had read or heard about it somewhere: the official superhero test. And if Wes's theory was right Danny would fall right into his – _SMASH!_

Or not.

The mug lay in shards at Wes's feet. Thankfully there hadn't been anything in it, but it was still a mess. Danny looked at Wes with a confused expression, and all of a sudden the students who had been there when Wes made his announcement started laughing.

"What kind of plan was that supposed to be?"

"I – I-" Wes stuttered.

"Oh, I know," someone suggested. "Maybe he expected his hand to go _through_ the mug, because of his _ghost powers_. That's why he knocked it over."

Cue more laughter.

Danny was even more confused than ever, so he turned to Wes, "I'm sorry, I'm lost. What just happened. What _plan_?"

Wes blushed, "I – uh, see, I read somewhere of this thing where you drop something and – uh – look, I was trying to see if you'd use your powers to pick up the mug. Only someone with superpowers would be able to do it that quickly, and, yeah."

Danny narrowed his eyes, _had he really thought that would work_? "Superpowers? Y'know maybe I'd have superpowers if I was bitten by a radioactive phantom – but dream on Weston. Maybe one day I can catch a coffee cup, right after Phantom reveals his secret identity as – guess who? – Peter Parker. I bet you saw that coming too, didn't you Wes?"

Leaving him gaping like a fish, unable to come up with a witty response, Danny left to go to his seat wordlessly. Sam and Tucker followed suit, except Sam put her hand on Wes's shoulder and whispered, "Get help."

And of course, at that very moment, Mr. Lancer walked into the room. His eyes scanned over the room before he spotted his broken mug. His eyes grew comically wide, "Crime and Punishment! What happened to my favorite mug?!"

" _Weston_..." drawled the entire class in monotone. Mr. Lancer turned to Wes, who was frozen in a look of panic.

"Weston, how and why is my mug on the floor?" Mr. Lancer demanded.

Wes wracked his brain for a good enough excuse. It's not like he could tell his teacher he was trying to get another classmate to show his superpowers. "I thought I saw a ghost?"

Tucker snorted. Moments later, Sam kicked him in the leg with her heavy combat boot. "Ow!"

Mr. Lancer didn't seem pleased, "See me after class Mr. Weston. We'll discuss your payment for the replacement mug."

Wes walked to his desk muttering, "It's just a damn mug... it can't be that important."

Danny sat at his desk, hoping that nobody was still looking at him after Wes's whole mug ploy at the beginning of class. He was trying to sink into his textbook (figuratively, not literally), when he heard Wes whisper something with his enhanced hearing.

"I'm onto you Fenton, or should I say _Phantom_."

 _Wow_... so threatening. Danny was just shaking in fright now. He was just about to close his eyes when Tucker threw a small wad of paper at him. Curiously looking back at his friend, Danny quietly opened the note.

It read: **"Danny Phantom: Saving Shakespearean Mugs since 2005"**

Danny almost fell back in his chair from laughter.

* * *

 **By now I've been through most of the reviews, but since I'm new to this site, I'm not sure the best way to respond. But I will thank anyone who has reviewed on this story, because it means a lot to me. Also, I would like to state that I only consider the scene in** ** _Shades of Gray_** **as Wes's only official appearance in the show, no other background cameos.**


	8. The Legendary Bathroom Binder

Chapter Seven: The Legendary Bathroom Binder

* * *

Danny's week was hell. Absolute hell. No, maybe even more than that. Ranging from mundane problems like his parents inventions trying to kill him (honestly, it'd become normal at this point, he didn't even try questioning it), to Wes Weston fucking everything up.

Even though he was content with avoiding him, sooner or later, Danny was going to have to do something about Wes. At first, he'd hoped it'd die down in a matter of days. But Wes had been trying to persuade people of Danny's secret for over a week now, and as far as any of Team Phantom could tell there was no convincing him that he was wrong or downright crazy. That kid had nerve, and was possibly smarter than a majority of the people in Amity Park... and yet, he was still a total dumbass. As the crowd of popular kids surrounded Danny and Wes like prey, Danny couldn't help but think that this was all Wes's fault.

* * *

Wes examined his notes. _Two bathroom breaks in third period. One in between class changes. One in fourth period. Completely absent during lunch. No breaks in fifth or sixth period. Two more bathroom breaks in seventh period. Absent for the entirety of eighth period._

Wes had about a week's worth of bathroom breaks written down for Danny so he could compare the time of when he was gone to when Phantom was spotted around the city. So far, the evidence had lined up nearly perfectly. Every time Danny Fenton had left class, Danny Phantom was recorded fighting someplace in Amity Park battling ghosts. _How can no one else see this?_

Wes kept all his information in one binder. While most of his other research was at home, he kept his bathroom statistics with him so he could record them when need be. Because if there was one thing everyone knew about Danny Fenton, he went to the bathroom _a lot_. It was to the point where the teachers didn't even protest, they just let him leave because they knew arguing was pointless.

On his sixth day recording Danny's bathroom leave, Wes had the great idea to follow him for once. It was near the end of class, so leaving all of his stuff at his desk, Wes quickly followed behind Danny, staying about twenty feet behind him at all times. But before he knew it, Danny was gone. Wes smiled to himself, there was clearly one thing to do: wait in the bathroom for Danny to see what happens when he comes back. After all, for Danny, wasn't the bathroom like the phone-booth for Superman? Wes figured it was the one place where he can safely switch between identities.

It was about five minutes before anything happened. Wes was hiding in one of the stalls when a dismembered voice drifted through the air, "Stupid box ghost... always wasting my time." Wes held his breath, this was it – the moment he could finally get proof.

All of a sudden there was a giant flash of light from the other side of the stall door Wes was hiding in. _What the hell...?_ Slowly, Wes peered out the door, only to see a normal looking Danny Fenton running water over his face.

Danny seemed to notice Wes's movement in the mirror, because he didn't even turn around, "I know it's you Wes. And if I'm right you've been waiting here for me."

Wes swung the door open, "Or maybe I just had to piss like a normal human being, unlike you."

"I can't help how many times I have to go to the bathroom," Danny shrugged.

"No," Wes said, "I was talking about how you're a ghost."

"Oh, that. I don't know," Danny looked in the mirror, "pretty sure I look human."

"Looks are deceiving. I mean, if not for all the glowy stuff, Phantom looks human, even though he's not."

"But I'm not him," Danny said slowly.

"But you are."

Danny sighed, "Look, Wes, you're a good guy, I can tell. But you need to let this go. If there's something going on in your life that's pressured you into this obsession or something, you can always talk to my sister about it. I know she doesn't seem that approachable or anything – trust me, I live with her – but she actually knows what she's talking about." He tried to be a little more light-hearted, "No need to go on the pills or anything."

Wes didn't take the bait. "That's what you said the other day to your friends..." he muttered, "that I need freaking chill-pills."

Danny cocked an eyebrow, "When did I say that?"

It took Wes a second to notice his slip up. Danny's friends had been talking about that when Wes was _stalking them_. Shit. What was he supposed to say now?

Wes hesitantly shrugged, "I dunno. I just remember you saying that." _Yeah Wes, that's one hell of a cover-up. Five brownie points to you._

"Wait a minute," Danny said, realization pouring over him. "Was that you following us that day? Last week on the way to the Nasty Burger?"

Wes nearly choked, "You knew I was there?"

Danny gave an flustered reply, "Well, not exactly. I just felt like I was being watched. That's all."

The two stood in the bathroom, listening the dripping of the leaking sinks. _Well, this is awkward._

"So do I have to ask why you were following us?" Danny asked.

Wes shifted his feet, "I – uh – was – do you really have to _ask me_? I mean, we both know you're Phantom. I was just tailing you in case something happened, that way I could have proof on camera."

Danny grit his teeth, "How many times do I have to repeat: I am _not_ Phantom."

Suddenly, the bell for the next period rang.

"Crap," Wes muttered. "I left all my stuff in Ms. Merluzzi's."

Wes took that as an exit, because that encounter was clearly going downhill (hell, it didn't start well in the first place either). When he reached the class he had come from, there were a large number of people crowded at his desk. _Okay_... Wes thought. _What's_ that _about?_ When was got through all the lingering people, he saw Dash Baxter holding up his research binder, a devilish grin plastered on his face. Someone nudged Dash on the shoulder, and pointed to Wes.

"Oh hey Phantom, I found your binder. This is pretty neat stuff you have in here."

"Uh..."

"So do you really write down every time Fenton goes to the bathroom?"

Wes blushed, "I-"

"That's sort of..."

"Gay?" someone suggested.

Another person laughed, "Sort of."

Wes lunged forward for his binder, "It's for research!"

Dash held onto the binder, holding it over his head and out of Wes's reach. "Oh hell no," Dash said at Wes's attempt to get his binder back. "This is way too good not to keep." Dash laughed, "God, you and Fenton are like a pair of freaks!"

Cue the laughter from the peanut gallery.

"I mean, listen to this! _September 20th, nine overall bathroom breaks; missed half of first period and the second half of sixth period_. God Phantom, do you actually go to the bathroom with him? Maybe have a little make-out session?"

Wes didn't know whether to feel mortified, livid, or terrified. All his emotions jumbled together, making his head swim. _It was only research, why were they making such a big deal out of it!_ He gritted his teeth. Meanwhile, the jocks continued to glare at Wes, eyes full of amusement and mirth.

"I think – that the funniest part – of all of this – is – how many times – Fenton actually leaves – during class – to pee," a jock managed to say through heavy laughter.

"You guys realize he's probably just getting high in the bathrooms."

Someone snorted, "Dude 'ave you met Fenton? He'd never know where to get weed, any other drug is out've the question."

"Besides, his sister was the lead in that stupid drug skit last year. Remember, 'Don't do drugs, or you'll lose everything. You'll die, and ruin yourself and stuff... yadah, yadah, yadah."

Wes was getting impatient, "Look, I need my binder back! If you're going to look through it, at least compare the data sets I have comparing Phantom sightings and Fenton's bathroom breaks."

More laughter. "Pair of freaks alright!"

* * *

Somebody should suspend Dash's privileges to the copy room. He took all of Wes's data, all of it, copied it, and circulated it around the school. By now, over half of the school knew of Wes's obsession with Danny's bathroom routine, and it was going downhill from there. He was possibly having one of the worst days ever (and comparatively to the past two weeks, that was pretty bad). In the hallways, people wouldn't just scream 'Phantom' at him anymore. It ranged from everything to 'Deuce Phantom' (yes, people were _actually_ saying that) to 'Fenton's Not-So-Secret Admirer'. Wes was generally a non-depressed happy guy, but today, he really just felt like hanging himself. On the other hand, while Wes was too concerned about himself, he completely forgot another important factor in all of it... Danny.

Danny marched up to Wes in the middle of the cafeteria, scowling and looking like he was going to blast something to pieces (which Wes knew he could do, because, _duh_ ghost powers). "Weston," Fenton angrily held up one of the sheets Dash had copied. "What the hell is this?"

Wes gulped, "Some of my personal research to prove you're Phantom. Dash stole it."

"You're sick."Danny stated.

"And you're dead, but no one really seems to care about that," Wes remarked, not up to being accused today.

Danny's eye twitched, "I am _not_ a ghost!"

"Then how come Danny Phantom always appears in AP while you're out of class, _in the bathroom_?" Wes crossed his arms. They both knew he was right.

"Coincidences!" Danny spat.

"Multiple times a day? For an entire week? No, not a week. It's been going on a lot longer than that."

Danny seemed to not have an answer for that, so he quickly changed the subject. Wes victoriously smirked. Danny gave an exasperated groan, "Why would you let Dash get hold of that stupid binder?"

"I left it on my desk, honest mistake. He and his friends started looking through it."

"Doesn't sound very honest to me. You probably purposely told him to spread it around the school so you can show people your proof that I'm Phantom," Danny narrowed his eyes.

"Do it on purpose?" Wes cried. "Have you heard half of the things people have been saying to me. This is one of the worst school days of my life, there's no way I'd knowingly do that to myself."

"Oh I don't know..." Danny said. "I've been too distracted by everyone asking whether you and I are dating, or if I have a fucking UTI! Other people are convinced I'm a druggie now because of you, that I'm smoking it up in the bathrooms or some shit! So yeah, I don't give a damn what people are saying about _you_ , Weston."

"Well based on the evidence the most reasonable conclusion would be that you have bladder problems... since you won't admit the truth about how you're fighting ghosts, so I really don't blame those people for making assumptions."

"You fu-"

"Hey look!" Dash said, "Phanturd and Fenturd are talking to each other!"

Students swarmed where Danny and Wes were standing in the lunchroom, making a ring. Through all the chaos and noise Wes heard Danny mutter something about Dash's comment that sounded like, "Deja vu."

"So how are my favorite freaks doing?" Dash asked them. "I mean, that whole bathroom binder was a couple laughs."

Like a flip of a switch, Danny seemed to retreat into more of a reclusive, scared act around Dash. _What the...?_ Wes wondered. Just seconds ago, he seemed ready to chew Wes's head off. Why was he now acting so weak around Dash? If he's really Danny Phantom, he could destroy Dash whenever he wanted, so why hold back? _Self control_. If he's too strong for a nerd, Dash'll get suspicious, thus blowing his secret identity. Wes grinned. Maybe if someone provoked him enough, he'd crack and reveal his true strength. Finally! Irritating people seemed to be something that Wes excelled at. All he had to do was piss him off endlessly until he used some of his powers. Couldn't be too hard, right?

Wes turned to Dash, "We're doing great. I think Danny might need to piss again, though, I mean, it's already a quarter till noon, and he hasn't been since the end of last period," Wes replied. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Or maybe, y'know, it _is_ his period."

There was silence in the cafeteria for about five seconds before all hell broke loose. Jocks and popular girls doubled over in hysterics. Wes glanced at Danny, his face was a mix of aggravation and embarrassment. Well, at least they were getting somewhere.

"I hate to admit it..." Dash said, "but that was a _good one_ , Phantom."

"I'm pretty sure 'good one' was what I heard Danny say after he came out of the bathroom the other day."

"What the h-"

"Don't you remember Danny?"

"What are you _doing_?"

Wes smiled, "Showing you embarrassment."

"You're an ass-" Danny suddenly gasped "-hole... _oh no_."

"Hey everybody!" Wes announced, "I think Fenton just got another bowel movement!"

Before anyone could do or say anything, something crashed through the window. A gigantic purple dragon flew into Casper High, instantly torching a lunch table.

Wes was pretty sure he was the only person who could hear it since he was standing next to him, but he swears he heard Danny mutter, " _No_ , not him."

Then everything was lost to the screaming, students swarmed towards the nearest exit, pushing friends and peers out of the way. Wes lost Danny pretty quickly, which was no surprise, because moments later Danny Phantom rose into the air exchanging blows with the dragon.

* * *

Wes couldn't believe that he had missed the opportunity to humiliate and make Danny reveal his powers that day. He dragged his feet across his bedroom floor, lazily plopping on the bed. After the dragon attack at lunch, school had been cut short to put out the fire. And as usual, Danny Phantom defeated the ghost.

Wes stretched to reach the TV remote on his bedside table. He wasn't really in the mood to watch anything, so he just let it play in the background as white noise. He slowly recalled the day's events, particularly to the part right before the dragon showed up. What interested Wes was that Danny seemed to sense it was coming. Right before it crashed through the window, he gasped and said "oh no". Come to think of it, the air was sort of cold too... you could see a small apparition of Fenton's breath. He'd have to make a note of that...

Wes leaned against the headboard, staring up at the ceiling. He might've fallen asleep, but he was planning on doing more research later. That was when he heard something from the TV that caught his attention. Something... disturbing.

The TV was showing live broadcasting from Channel 11, following Danny Phantom and the ghost hunter the news had dubbed, 'The Red Huntress'. She flew through the air at alarming speeds, chasing after Danny. You could see angry eyes through her tinted visor. And suddenly, she was screaming.

"I know it's you Weston! You're just like your cousin Danielle, aren't you?!"

Not entirely knowing what that meant, Wes switched off the TV. He sure to God hoped Fenton got his intangible ass kicked.

* * *

 **Annnddd... today was my last day of Middle School. It's crazy to think that in just two months I'll be the same age as everyone in the show (well, technically I've been 14 for over half a year, but pfft whatever).**


	9. Phantom Gallery

Chapter Eight: Phantom Gallery

* * *

Wes was exhausted. It was Monday morning, and no amount of coffee could help him at this point, he was a lost cause. He had gotten about half an hour of sleep the night before while doing more ghost research. He had only slept at all because he tripped over a few art supplies left over from when he was making his charts, and decided that the floor was somewhat comfortable and it was worth too much effort to get up. His father found him in the morning, choosing to ignore the creepy pictures of both Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom tacked to the wall. Thankfully, all Walter said was to clean his room as soon as possible, because frankly, it was a complete mess. Everything from sharpies and bottles of superglue to cassette tapes about ghosts and random soda cans littered his bedroom floor. He was _not_ looking forward to cleaning it all up.

At the moment, all Wes could hope to do was survive the school day. On the bright side, he still looked better than Danny. His hair stuck up at odd angles (more so than usual), his eyes seemed to be permanently cast in shadow (to the extent where Wes had almost convinced himself it was makeup), and his entire walk seemed to be lopsided. Unlike most, who just assumed Danny was a Grade-D slacker, Wes knew why Danny was so sleep deprived. Because after all, he just spent the entire weekend evading the Red Huntress's wrath.

Apparently she was convinced that Wes actually was Phantom, and kept comparing him to an unknown girl named Danielle (which Wes was pretty sure had to do with Danny, because come on, _Daniel and Danielle_?). Wes had no clue how the huntress knew who he was, but he had a horrible suspicion that she attended Casper High, which meant that she was a fellow student. But who? He also felt offended that she believed the real Phantom to be him, but couldn't bring himself to be angry. After all, she had beaten Danny up pretty bad and he did next to nothing to fight back, and that... strangely satisfied Wes. That, and she had managed to figure out that humans could be ghosts – she just got the wrong human.

Wes picked at parts of his eraser with his nails as a distraction to stay awake in third period. So far it wasn't doing a very good job. His head felt heavy, and his eyelids kept trying to glue together every time he blinked. Currently the teacher, Mrs. Rosenbalm, was taking role. She looked over the class apprehensively.

"Where's Grey?" she asked. "Bathroom?"

"Absent," Sam assured her.

Mrs. Rosenbalm made a "tsking" noise, "That's the sixth time this year. And usually that girl has a remarkable attendance!"

Sam growled something under her breath that nobody but Tucker caught. Mrs. Rosenbalm started the history lesson about something with America... and somebody getting pissy because they didn't have whatever rights (God, that's all of American history). The color of the blackboard appeared to eat the chalk; Wes couldn't see anything on the board. His head seemed to sink down to his desk, his eyelids shut and refused to open, and Mrs. Rosenbalm's nasally voice was drowned by deafening silence.

Wes always had non-sequential, random dreams, that were usually too abstract to describe. So the scene that built itself below his conscious wasn't too out of the ordinary.

There was a carousel... somewhere, the sky not even apart of Wes's dream. It didn't exist. The carousel didn't have horses, it just had random spokes with people on it. The people faded and twisted, like they weren't exactly tied to the fabric of reality... the people were ghosts.

"Hey look Wes," the Red Huntress said, she held up a blue haired doll with a creepy painted smile, "this is Danielle. You're like her."

Wes didn't know what that meant. The Red Huntress wasn't there anymore, or the carousel. Suddenly, Wes was in Vlad's mansion, in the Packer's room, with Star. She was leaning against a display case, grinning at him.

"Are you sure you don't want to be Phantom?" Star asked. "Danny pulls it off."

Wes felt a twinge of jealously at that, but forced it down, "Danny's a ghost."

Star bounced on her feet. "Everything in this room is a ghost," she swiped at an invisible something, "We can't touch anything."

"That's kind of dumb," Wes says. "Who makes a room like that?"

Star's face went slack, and there was a voice that wasn't her's, _"President Roosevelt..."_

Wes was confused, "President Roosevelt makes ghost rooms?"

SMACK. Something loud erupted next to Wes, nullifying his dream and pulling him back into the classroom. He looked next to him for evidence of the noise, and found a wrinkly old hand... Mrs. Rosenbalm. She had caught him sleeping in class and had woken him up.

Wes pulled his face from the desk, which had stuck to it with sweat... gross. About half the people in the room were glaring at him. He noticed Danny looking dazed two rows down.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Rosenbalm looked slightly satisfied, "Weston! Fenton! Since you both seem adamant about sleeping in class, you will be paired together for the upcoming class project."

Paired with Fenton... Surprising even himself, Wes was ecstatic. Being paired up for a project was the perfect way to collect research on Danny. When they weren't working on history, it would give him an excuse to be around and actually observe Danny. This is the luckiest break he'd gotten in over a week!

Danny, meanwhile, was still mostly asleep and hadn't processed everything that Mrs. Rosenbalm said. "Tha's o'ay," Danny slurred. "I'm usually used as a projectile... _I'll be fine, Jazz_."

Mrs, Rosenbalm frowned,"Daniel Fenton! I am talking to you! Get your face off of your desk and look at me!"

Danny suddenly jerked up, meeting Mrs. Rosenbalm's eyes, "Oh right, sorry. Get on with the lesson."

"Fenton, you're working with Weston on the next class project," she said simply.

Danny's eyes were saucers when he threw a glance over at Wes, clearly horrified at the thought of working with him. Feeling somewhat victorious, Wes smiled at him. _You're mine, ghost-boy._

* * *

Wes and Danny decided that they would go back to Wes's place to work on the project. So the two of them walked in heavy silence to the Westons' apartment. Wes tried to initiate conversation multiple times, but Danny usually only responded with simple answers, unwilling to talk to the red-headed boy. Soon enough, they reached their destination, and Wes showed Danny to his room. He let Danny walk in first, who promptly froze in the doorway.

"Uh... Danny?" Wes said, "Are you okay?"

"I think the real question is if you're okay."

"What?" Wes said, thoroughly confused.

"I mean, sure, I have some ghost stuff in my room – but that's only because of my parents. This... this is another level of unhealthy."

 _Ghost stuff?_ What was he talking ab – oh, right. His Fenton and Phantom pictures he'd pinned on the walls. The entire gallery of photos was there for the entire world to see. Damn, this was mortifying. His Dad was right, he should've cleaned his room.

"I – I – I can explain," Wes said quickly.

Danny shrugged, sitting on Wes's bed, "Don't bother." He suddenly broke into a grin, "I mean, at least you got my good side."

* * *

Ten days later, and Wes still hadn't pulled down his 'Phantom Gallery' as Danny had dubbed it. Sure, it was mortifying for when he had unexpected visitors, but Wes wasn't willing to let his personal embarrassment get in the way of his precious research.

He and Danny ended up getting a D on their history project. Danny had a long week hunting ghosts, and Wes... well, Wes had a long week hunting Danny. Unfortunately (or fortunately for team Phantom), Wes's evidence hadn't progressed in the slightest since the dragon attack in the cafeteria. However, an encounter with ex A-Lister Valerie Grey on October 5th leaves some unanswered questions in his head.

"Hey, um, Weston," Valerie approached him at his locker, "can I talk to you during lunch?"

Wes was completely taken aback. Was she asking him on a date? He could've sworn that she had a thing for Danny... "Uh... yeah! We can talk – at lunch."

"Great," she shifted, almost like there was something tense in the air, "meet me on the roof."

"The roof?" Wes wondered.

"Mm," she nodded, "yeah. That way we're alone."

Wes didn't really think in between the lines as to Valerie's motives for meeting on the roof. All he got out of it was 'pretty girl' and 'alone'. So with his mission to expose Danny momentarily forgotten, he trekked up three flights of stairs to reach the roof.

When he got up there, Valerie was waiting for him, casually leaning against the railing, "What took you so long?"

"Stairs," Wes explained.

She raised an eyebrow, as if there was something puzzling about that answer, but quickly dismissed it. "I'm just going to out and say it, I know it's you Weston. That it's always been you, ever since the disaster with Axion Labs and the stupid ghost dog. I was just too naive to put it together. I mean, I've known about half ghosts for months! Ever since the whole thing with Danielle and... _Vlad_. I know I'm rambling, but the point is, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight when I tried to kill you as Phantom the other day, everything just happened so fast, and," she paused to breathe, "could you ever forgive me?"

Wes stared at her. In that moment he almost wanted to facepalm. Couldn't the universe let him have a normal date for once?!

"Uhh..." he said, "I'm sorry, _what_?"

" _Please Wes_ ," she said. "It's killing me knowing that I've been attacking an actual human for the past year. And even though you're kind of a dick, that's better than a coldblooded ghost with absolutely no morals bent on the destruction of humanity."

"Is this some sort of prank?" Wes asked.

Valerie broke from her ranting, "What do you mean?"

"You think that I'm literally Phantom. Like, half-ghost and all?"

"I _know_ that you're Phantom. Come on, Weston, I'm not as thick-headed as the rest of Amity Park. When people started comparing you to Phantom, you tried convincing people Fenton was Phantom instead as an alibi. But I know the truth, _you can trust me_. I mean, we've allied probably about five times now, and you're not someone I particularly want as my enemy now that I know who you are. So is there anyway you can find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"Forgive you for what? Look, Valerie, I don't know what you think is going on, but _I'm not Phantom_. I'm telling the truth, it's Fenton! If you want to confess all your sins to someone, go blather to him."

Valerie growled, "Stop playing dumb!"

"I'm not! I literally have no clue what you're talking about!"

"Then why'd you meet me up here? If you're not Phantom, why'd you come to talk to me today?"

Wes was caught off guard. He couldn't just tell her that he thought it was a date, so he reluctantly held his tongue.

Valerie smirked, "Gotcha, ghost-boy. Now, since we're both on the same page, we have to agree that we can't just keep fighting each other like we have been. I want to form a truce with you."

 _This is ridiculous_ , Wes internally groaned. Since he couldn't convince her that he wasn't Phantom, he might as well attempt to get information out of her, "What kind of truce?"

"Neither of us reveal the other's identity, and that we work together to bring down ghosts – but only when they're too powerful for the both of us. I know that I don't want _all_ of my thunder stolen."

"I-" Wes started before being cut off again.

"And also," Valerie's expression grew more serious, "lay off of Danny. While you may think that he's a good alibi for your own secret, he's not. Sure, he looks vaguely similar to Phantom, but he's way too prepubescent, out-of-shape, and not nearly snarky enough. Plus, I like him, and that means he's under _my_ protection, got it?"

Something about that was funny to Wes. _Danny_ was under _Valerie's_ protection. "Got it."

Valerie turned to the edge of the rooftop, and smiled. Wes's world was shaken when red armor instantly appeared over her normal clothes, turning her into a very familiar figure in Amity Park. He had suspected that it was a student, but he would've never guessed...

"It'll be a pleasure working with you Weston, or should I say, _Phantom_."

Valerie Grey was the Red Huntress.

* * *

"Hey _Danny_ ," Wes drawled, "how's it going?"

Danny groaned, he was so not in the mood for this today. Johnny 13 and Kitty kept popping out of the Ghost Zones at the worst moments for their anniversary. Danny didn't have a girlfriend, but he was pretty sure an anniversary wasn't usually spent terrorizing eight year-olds' bowling parties with your trusty bad luck shadow.

"What do you want Wes?"

"I just have a question that might interest you," he paused. "Is Valerie Grey a ghost hunter?"

Danny froze. Oh God, what had Valerie done? She already incorrectly suspected that Wes was Phantom, so had she revealed that she was the Red Huntress? Not good... so not good. Yeah sure, technically the Red Huntress was Danny's proclaimed enemy – but Danny cared about _Valerie_ as a friend.

Danny snorted, "Valerie Grey... hunting ghosts? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I mean, how would she be able to afford equipment?"

"Dunno," Wes shrugged, "but I think I just scored you a truce with the Red Huntress. You owe me now, _Phantom_."

Danny's fake smile faltered.

"And you know what else?" he said, "She confirmed the existence of half-ghosts. It's only a matter of time, _ghost-boy_."


	10. Game of Phones

Chapter Nine: Game of Phones

* * *

While Danny was overall pissed at Wes, he had to admit that he was grateful for what he had done for him. As it was, Danny alone wouldn't have been able to commission a truce between him and Valerie so easily. But from what he'd gathered, Wes had done it almost effortlessly. He didn't know how long it would take before she realized that Wes _was not_ Phantom, but he was going to enjoy the peace as long as he could.

Now that's not to say that everything was forgiven, _hell no_. Wes was borderline obsessive with proving that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same, and it was getting worse almost every day. The scary thing was, he wasn't sure how he was going to get Wes to stop. There had to be some way to shut him up...

"Mr. Fenton, I would like it if you could join us, please," Mr. Lancer tore Danny from his thoughts.

"Sorry Mr. Lancer. Just... spacing out," Danny mumbled.

"And I would suggest you start paying attention if you want to achieve your dream of going to space," Mr. Lancer said.

Danny almost snorted. He gave up on that dream months ago. When he realized that he would have to live with his powers for the rest of his life, he came to the conclusion that there was no way a freaky half-ghost could make it into the space program. Besides, even though there was no way Lancer could know this, he'd been in space before. Despite the fact that it was only a few minutes (and the fact that he was fighting a satellite possessed by Technus), there was something breathtaking from seeing the entire Earth from orbit.

Feeling slightly nostalgic, Danny rested his head on his desk. He wished he could be in space again, except this time, without any ghosts to fight. Mr. Lancer's words were lost on him, and he didn't understand what a majority of what he was teaching. Something about... foreshadowing. Whatever the hell that was, Danny figured he could use one to ultimately bore a ghost back into the Ghost Zone.

All of a sudden, Danny's phone started vibrating in his pocket. That was strange... he must've forgotten to turn it off before school started. Just when he was about to turn it completely off, he noticed that he had an unread IM from a blocked number. Letting curiosity get the best of him, Danny clicked on the message.

 **"i kno who u r, danny phantom**

 **if u dont meet me after school 2day in gym, ill tell every1"**

Momentary panic seized Danny. He forgot where he was and what he was supposed to be doing. His knees hit his desk, and his phone fell to the floor. Thankfully, his Mom had created him a custom 'Fenton Phone Case', which protected it from stray ecto-energy and normal blows to the floor. But now the entire class was looking at him, and – oh crap. Lancer was walking towards him.

"Mr. Fenton," he said sternly. "What were you doing on your phone, _during my class_?"

Danny gulped, "Checking the weather?"

"If your biggest concern while we're discussing literary devices, then you might just simply want to look out a _window_. Now, I'm going to have to suspend your phone for the remainder of the day. You can have it back, after your detention today."

"Yes sir," he nodded. As Mr. Lancer went back to the front of the room, Danny didn't fail to notice Wes's gigantic smirk. That little bastard... texting him in class.

* * *

"So you got another detention?" Tucker asked casually.

"Yep," Danny groaned. "Weston thought it would be funny sending me anonymous, threatening messages during geometry."

Tucker winced, "Ouch."

"I know," Danny said. "And now Lancer has my phone for the rest of the day. The one part that bothers me the most, is that I don't even know how Wes got my phone number."

"Don't know how to find that out," Tucker said slowly, "but if you're looking for ideas for payback, I think _I_ got one."

"Woah, wait, I don't really _want_ to do anything... _aggressive_ ," Danny's eyes widened.

"Oh, don't worry man, this is pretty much harmless," his friend reassured, before laughing. "Yet, oddly effective."

* * *

Wes had saved up his money for three weeks so he could buy a version of Photoshop. He'd finally been able to buy the cheapest version on the market two days ago, and had proudly put together some evidence. Once again, he held his head up high as he walked into Casper High, ready to convince people of his theory. If a doctored picture of Phantom with Fenton's black hair couldn't persuade people, he didn't know what would.

"Hey Dash," Wes said casually, "do you still not believe that Fenton is Phantom?"

Dash snorted, "Yes, because the puny weakling I wail on everyday is secretly a dead superhero with super awesome ghost powers. Then I completely believe you, _Phantom_ ," he mocked.

"Well," Wes said, reaching into his pocket where he kept the picture, "you might want to check this out..."

Just when Wes was about to hand the picture to Dash, his phone started ringing. Wes was immediately taken aback. This wasn't one of his ringtones.

 _I'm the invisible man,_

 _I'm the invisible man_

 _Incredible how you can_

 _See right through me_

 _I'm the invisible man_

 _I'm the invisible man_

 _It's criminal how I can_

 _See right through you._

Who the hell set his ringtone as "The Invisible Man" by Queen? He looked at the number calling... blocked caller. He looked around frantically, completely ignoring the A-List's glances of confusion. His eyes found immediate confirmation... he knew exactly who had done this. After all, everybody knew that Foley had a shitty taste in music.

For the remainder of the week, whenever Wes would try to talk to someone about Danny, he would get random phone calls from the same blocked number. And it was always the same ringtone... "The Invisible Man". Wes understood it was a take on some punny joke, but honestly it just fell flat.

What pissed him off the most was how thorough Tucker had hacked his phone. Even if he turned it off, he could click a button, and it would force an automatic power-on without Wes being the wiser. Unfortunately, he found that out the hard way when his phone accidentally went off during a science quiz.

* * *

Danny was satisfied with himself. Thanks to Tucker's quick thinking, he found a way to shut Wes up for a few days. He honestly hoped it would last, but his hopes were crushed when he found out that Wes did a complete reset on his phone.

Unfortunately, that was the least of his problems Monday, October17th. The night before, his Dad had installed another Fenton lock on the ghost portal (he was convinced that Danny Phantom was somehow breaching his current security system, and in reality, he wasn't wrong; Danny used the portal all the time), and had repeatedly opened and closed the portal to demonstrate it. That meant that Danny had to spend the entire night hunting down countless ghosts. The worst part was, most of them were more violent than usual, so now Danny was barely making it through the day on two hours of sleep, minimal painkillers, and coffee.

Ever since Jazz found out that morning when he had come to her with a number of scratches on his forearm (stupid ghost birds), she had been hovering over him. It wasn't much of a surprise when she called him in between classes when she couldn't leave the library for her usual SAT studying (despite that the SATs were four months away).

Danny reached into his locker, holding his phone between his shoulder and face, "Jazz, it's fine. I caught all the ghosts no problem."

He could practically hear Jazz narrow her eyes, "I thought I heard your ribs break."

Danny took a breath, "It wasn't that _drastic_. Whatever damage there was, my healing factor is already taking care of it."

"So you _are_ hurt," Jazz said.

At that moment, Danny closed his locker to reveal Wes on the other side of the door, attempting (and clearly failing) to act natural. _Damn... will he ever leave me alone?_

Jazz's voice rang in Danny's ear, "Danny, don't hang up on me."

Danny turned away from Wes, carrying his book to his next class, "I should really be more careful _where_ I talk about this."

* * *

Both Wes and Danny knew that he had heard too much when Danny was on the phone talking to his sister. And Wes was outright overjoyed at what he had overheard. _Catching ghosts... healing factor..._ He might as well as written and signed a confession right there.

So when Danny reluctantly left to 'go to the bathroom' again in seventh period, Wes was more than ready to follow (plus, he was starting to flunk history anyway). By the time Wes reached the bathroom, Danny was long gone. So, he did something he didn't think that he'd ever do: he climbed out the window.

The school yard was completely desolate during classtime... not even the landscapers were outside in the brisk, October weather. Wes roamed a little bit, lost on which direction to go in. He assumed that the ghost attack would be pretty easy to find (from Wes's knowledge, they were usually loud), but it was actually the opposite; he didn't see, nor hear, ghosts anywhere. Finally, after about twenty-five minutes (had it really been that long?), Wes gave up and wandered back inside. He figured he could make some excuse for Mrs. Rosenbalm, considering that Danny got away with it all the time.

What he did not expect to see when he snuck back inside the building was to find Principal Ishiyama lecturing Danny. Not so lucky for Wes, Danny immediately spotted him.

"Hey, why do you have to isolate me. Weston was skipping too."

You never know true fear until your female Asian High School principal looks you dead in the eyes with fury in her heart and words of rage spitting off her lips.

"-completely irresponsible! Now, Mr. Fenton, whether I like it or not, this has become expected of you-"

" _Thanks for reminding me_."

"-but I obviously expected more from one of our school's basketball stars!"

She continued like that for about two more minutes until she finally reached the (dreaded) punishment.

"While I feel like detention would be a normal disciplinary measure, I believe I have a more appropriate punishment. As you two may be aware, Halloween is just around the corner and Casper High is hosting Amity's first annual Phantober Fest-"

"I'm sorry," Danny interrupted, "hosting _what_?"

Wes looked at Danny. How had he not heard yet? For the past week or so, advertisements had been everywhere! Almost every morning on the intercom, they announced sign-ups for different events. Wes didn't think it was possible for anyone to not know about the Phantober Fest.

"Phantober Fest," explained Ishiyama. "It's a party for the whole town on Halloween night. Usually we do a haunted house, but after last year's fiasco..."

Danny grinned sheepishly.

"This year," she continued, "the council suggested a festival on Halloween night for the entire town. They penned it, the 'Phantober Fest', due to the popularity of Danny Phantom – considering that he's basically Amity's mascot these days."

"So uh," Wes asked nervously, "what does this have to do with our punishment?"

"You two," Ishiyama grinned, "will be serving at the snack table."

There were about five seconds of painful silence before Wes and Danny both started pleading for a different punishment. There was nothing wrong with the snack table, in fact, it was actually a very light punishment compared to what Wes was expecting. It's just that it was on the worst night possible! He was supposed to be having fun on Halloween, not playing public servant!

But there was no changing Ishiyama's mind. Once that woman was set on something, she was _set_. As he and Danny awkwardly walked back to class together, she called down the hallway, "And don't forget! Costumes are _highly suggested_!"

Wes might've killed himself right there if it wasn't for Danny's apprehensive glare.


	11. (Don't Fear) The Mall Ghost

Chapter Ten: (Don't Fear) The Mall Ghost

* * *

Wes unconsciously held his hands in front of his chest, trying to block the obvious insignia that was commonly recognized throughout the town. White strands of hair kept falling in his face, and every time he tried to fix his wig, the hair would stick to the gloves. Not to mention that he was starting to sweat like crazy; spandex was extremely uncomfortable. _This was mortifying_... why had he agreed to do this again? Oh right... _the bet_.

It's not like he was the only person there who dressed as Phantom for the Phantober Fest. Dash and Kwan donned identical costumes to Wes, though they were wearing their black suits with pride. Hell, Wes thought he even saw a few girls dressed as Phantom. Talk about _devotion_.

What worried him the most was facing Danny. As soon as he reached the parlor Ishiyama had informed him to be at by 7 p.m. (it was currently fifteen past because Wes had trouble getting the costume on), the black haired boy starting roaring with laughter. He was dressed as a vampire, a fancy black outfit complete with a dark cape with red lining. He threw his head back, and Wes thought he saw a pair of fangs fall out of his mouth.

"This is the single best thing that's happened all night," Danny laughed. "And that's including my parents forgetting that it was Halloween and sounding an emergency ghost invasion evacuation." _Well... that explained all the sirens earlier._

He blushed, "Shut up! I lost a bet!"

And in retrospect, Wes really should've known better than to make a bet with Justin that close to Halloween.

On October 22nd, Wes and Justin had made plans to go Halloween shopping together at Amity's mall. Justin still hadn't bought his Joker costume, and Wes figured that he would find a costume for himself by the end of the excursion. So the two of them wandered around the costume store for a little while, hoping to find some ideas.

"So you think the chicks will dig the Joker look?" Justin wondered, holding up his own costume.

Wes shrugged, "I don't know. But hey, if nothing else, I can always be your Harley Quinn."

The two of them laughed. "I don't think you can pull off blonde," Justin commented.

They shifted around the store, going from section to section. Finally, the reached an aisle that was solely stocked with different eye contacts.

"Hey Justin, don't you think I'd look badass with red eyes?" Wes asked, gesturing to a pair of red contacts on sale.

"Hell yeah! You'd probably look like some sort of ghost."

Wes scowled, "You said you'd lay off the Phantom jokes."

"It wasn't a Phantom joke. I was just saying that you'd look like a ghost or something, y'know, 'cause most ghosts tend to have red eyes. Well, other than Phantom. He has green eyes."

"I guess..." Wes set the box of contacts back on the shelf. He naturally glanced around the store, and noticed Sam dragging Danny and Tucker towards a goth store parallel to the costume store. The scene wasn't too out of the ordinary, everyone knew that Sam was as goth as they come, and particularly enjoyed creepy shops like that one. Wes was just taken aback at how convenient their arrival at the mall was. As he forced himself to return to reality, an inkling of an idea struck him. _Oh... this is way too good to pass up._

"Justin, are you up for a bet?"

Justin eyed him suspiciously, "Wes?"

"Are you up for it or not?"

His friend gave an unexcited shrug, "I guess."

"I bet you... that if I wear these red contacts, I can convince Fenton I'm overshadowed by a ghost."

"Why would you want to convince him – oh right, your Phantom theory. Wes, it's not gonna happen."

Wes gave a mad grin, "I think you'll be surprised."

"Yeah, and if you're wrong, you have to dress for Phantom for Halloween," Justin replied triumphantly.

" _Sure I will_ ," Wes rolled his eyes. "And when I'm right, you have to confess your gay love to Kwan."

"My _what_?"

"You heard me. Now... let's proceed to check-out. I _think_ I have enough money to buy contacts..." Wes muttered.

* * *

"I can't believe you don't have a costume yet Danny!" Sam said, dragging both him and Tucker to one of her favorite goth stores.

"Halloween isn't for another week-and-a-half," Danny argued defensively. "And if you haven't noticed, I haven't exactly had the time to shop lately."

"Well, you have the time today," Tucker grinned.

"I don't even know what I want to dress up as" Danny muttered, poking at a fake skull. "Thanks to Ishiyama, costumes are mandatory for this stupid Phantober Fest thing. I really don't want to go."

"Hey, it might be fun. After all, I think it's pretty cool that they named it after you," Sam said.

"Yeah, because working at a snack table all night with the one guy who's convinced I'm Danny Phantom is 'fun'," Danny deadpanned.

"Lighten up Danny!" Tucker grinned. "It's not like you're gonna have to fight ghosts like last Halloween. Pretty much everyone in the Zone is going to be at that party at Ember's."

"I guess that's true," Danny admitted. "Apparently even Vlad was invited. I doubt he's going though, he still has a grudge against Ember ever since she broke into his house and replaced all his personal files with Ember CDs."

"Sure," Sam said offhandedly, "that was completely _Ember_. It's not like I had anything to do with it..."

Danny and Tucker shared a look. Was there something Sam was hiding from them?

"Sam..." Tucker said slowly, "what did you do?"

"Forget about it." She quickly changed the subject, "Let's get Danny his costume!"

After some debating, Sam decided that Danny was going to be a vampire. He was against it at first, but reluctantly agreed to her antics.

"It'll be an _actual_ Dracula vampire," Sam explained, holding up a black and red cape, "not one of those sparkly… glorified _tampons_ from those stupid undead teen romance novels."

"But _I am_ an undead teen," Danny teased.

Sam glared at him, "Shut up, Danny."

While Danny and Sam argued like an old married couple over Danny's costume, Tucker took it to himself to record everything on his PDA. Oh, the joys of fresh blackmail. They were both so... _clueless_.

As the three of them finally left the store after they checked out, they were met with a (dreadfully) familiar face. None other than Wes Weston stared them down with unnaturally red eyes... _what_?! Wasn't he supposed to have green eyes? All suspicion of overshadowing was thrown out the window with what he said next.

"Hello, Phantom," Wes spat. "I've overshadowed this mangy human in hopes to provoke you."

The trio exchanged glances. If there had been a ghost overshadowing Wes, they wouldn't have been so recklessly stupid to just walk up to him and admit that he was overshadowed. Besides, if it was overshadowing, Danny's ghost sense would've alerted him. It didn't use to sense overshadowing, but ever since his ice powers became more developed, it became easier to feel when there was a ghost around. Wes was clearly not overshadowed.

"Yeah, whatever Wes," Danny said, "I'm not an idiot."

"But I am not Wes. I am the... Mall Ghost! You will reveal your true form and fight me, ghost boy!"

Tucker snorted, "The Mall Ghost? What, do you like haunt Victoria's Secret? Actually... that wouldn't be so bad..."

Sam kicked him. "Pervert."

"Look Wes," Danny said, "pretending to be overshadowed is a good idea and all, if you're trying to trick Phantom, but will you get this is your head? I am not a ghost! The real Danny Phantom is probably out protecting the town or something!"

"And what better way to protect the town than with a secret identity? You can't fool me! I am the Mall Ghost and I know who you are, Phantom!" Wes trembled.

"If you're overshadowed, then why are your eyes watering from the contacts?" Sam asked.

"Because... I am weeping tears of victory?"

"I've had enough of this," Danny decided. He grabbed Sam and Tucker by the arms, and walked as far away from Wes as he could.

"Phantom... wait!" he cried. But Danny and his friends were long gone.

Justin approached him from behind, "Looks like I win, Wessie-boy. Should we start shopping for your Phantom costume?"

This day couldn't get any worse.

* * *

Maybe that day couldn't get any worse, but Wes's current disaster certainly could. Danny thought Wes's costume was hysterical. All night, when people approached the two of them and complimented the accuracy of Wes's Phantom costume ("Your eyes are amazing, they really look like Phantom's!" or "Do you Cosplay a lot? You could probably make money off this!"), Danny made obvious attempts to keep himself from laughing out loud. It was even worse when Sam and Tucker (who were respectively dressed as a zombie and Darth Vader) made their way over to the snack stand and joined Danny in relishing Wes's pain.

As they night slowly progressed and the temperature dropped, Wes felt like he was freezing. The costume was made of skintight materials and was horrible at keeping the wearer warm. Not to mention that the materials kept sticking to his skin, making him break out in cold sweat. Furious at himself for not thinking to bring a jacket, Wes let out a yell of frustration towards Danny, "How the hell do you wear this all the time?! It's so uncomfortable!"

And to Wes's surprise, he didn't even try to deny anything that time. He simply just laughed. Already dead or not, Wes was going to kill him.

Somewhere around 11 p.m., the live music at the center of the festival came to an abrupt stop. At that very moment, Wes watched as Dash Baxter climbed on stage and picked up a microphone. He cringed as Dash's voice echoed across the town square.

"What's up Amity Park?!" All around him, there were cheers from random by-standers. "I hope you're having a good time! Now, I just talked with Principal Ishiyama, and I have some good news for all you guys!" Dash paused for dramatic effect. "There was an unexpected amount of people who dressed as Danny Phantom tonight, so due to popular demand, we will be hosting a Danny Phantom Look-Alike Contest! Anyone who came tonight as Phantom can participate, and the first prize winner gets a $50 gift card to the Nasty Burger! It will be held in twenty minutes in front of town hall, and the judges will be none other than Dale Presson, Paulina Sanchez, and Jazz Fenton! Spread the word to your friends, and we'll see you there. May the best Phantom win!"

An unexpected wave of nausea overcame Wes. There was no way he was participating in that contest; he would never live it down.

"If you want to do the contest," Danny smirked, "I can hold down the fort for you."

"Nope," Wes said quickly, "I'm staying right here."

"Hmm," Danny frowned, "that's a shame. You might be able to win that gift card. But who knows," he says eerily, "maybe I'll _change_ and win it instead."

Wes paled, "What did you just say?"

Danny laughed, "Lighten up. I was talking about changing my costume."

But they both knew that he wasn't. Wes looked at him from the side for a moment and realized, _that was the closest that Danny came to admitting the truth._

"Wes!" _Oh no_... Justin. "Why're you just standing around? You've got to get over to that contest! You're bound to win, for sure!"

"Justin, I'm not doing it," Wes said firmly.

"Ah, come on! Don't do this to me, Wes. Live a little! It won't hurt you. What's the worst that can happen, coming in last place?"

"No," Wes said. "Worse. Coming in _first place_."

"Stop being so depressing," Justin said. "I'll bet Danny agrees with me. Right, Danny?"

"I think that he's closer to the real Phantom than anyone thinks," Danny shrugged. And of course, Wes was the only that picked up on the double meaning in his words.

"Come on, _please_ Wes," Justin begged. "I promise you won't regret it."

"My answer is still no."

"Fine," Justin spat, "be that way." He turned, leaving Danny and Wes alone once again.

"I still think you should do it," Danny told him.

"You can't make me do anything," Wes said stubbornly.

"Actually..." Danny threw him a chilling smile, "maybe I can."

Right when Wes was about to ask him what he was talking about, there was a bright flash of light – like someone had put a camera in his face – and everything went black. He wasn't unconscious, or blinded, he could tell that much. But everything seemed... murky, like he was being held underwater or something. It was almost relaxing, Wes wanted nothing more to give in to the sensation – and he did. Just when he let the feeling overtake him, everything came rushing back.

The world burst into colors around him, and he found that his feet were planted on a stage. There were people of different ages around him, all dressed as Phantom. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Amity Clock Tower; it read 11:28. Just seconds ago it had said 11:16. What the hell had happened to him? Wait... he had been talking with Danny, and then there was that light.

"-participants of the Danny Phantom Look-Alike contest. The judges have reached a decision. With so many great costumes, it was hard to decide. But with no further ado, the honorary mention is _Mikey Hobaken_!"

Wes looked down and saw Dale, Paulina, and Jazz all sitting at one table together. For a moment, Wes caught Jazz's eye and he swore he saw something mischievous in it. Like she knew something that he didn't (in retrospect, it was _Jazz Fenton_ ; she probably knew a lot of things he didn't). Wes felt his stomach plummet, this wasn't good. He didn't even know how he got here, or why he couldn't recall the past ten minutes.

"-third place, Mia Cornwall for her remarkable take on Phantom's-"

Danny had something to do with Wes's memory gap. He had said something right before... what was it? When he had said that Danny couldn't make him do anything, Danny had replied with, _'Actually... maybe I can.'_

"-and our second place winner is... Dash Baxter!"

What had Danny done to him that allowed him to control him? In a moment of recognition, Wes's mind backtracked to the week before, when he had pretended to be overshadowed. If Danny was a ghost, and since overshadowing was a power that all ghosts possessed... Oh God, Danny had overshadowed him! Wes immediately felt repulsed with himself. Just the thought that a ghost (his own classmate!) had been able to go inside him and overpower him so easily made him sick.

"-you've all been waiting for! The first place winner is Casper's very own basketball star, Wes Weston! Come up here Wes!"

Oh crap. _Crap_! He won! What was he supposed to do now? _Just calm down, Wes. You can do this. Take a deep breath._

He took a few shaky steps forward and shook the announcer's hand. He was given a cheap black medal with Phantom's insignia on it. They told him that he'd be able to get his gift card the next day at school. Soon after, everyone spread out to different areas in the festival, leaving Wes practically alone. He spotted Danny talking to his sister, and feeling both enraged and embarrassed, Wes stormed over to them. But when he approached them, he found that they were in the middle of a conversation, and ended up hiding behind some nearby trash cans.

"-you shouldn't be so reckless Danny," Jazz chided him. "Overshadowing is-"

"Wrong, I know," Danny finished. "But come on, it was a one time thing – not to mention funny. And it's not like I was the one who dressed as Phantom tonight, well, you know what I mean."

"That's no excuse," Jazz crossed her arms sternly. "I played along, but it wasn't right. I thought you were better than overshadowing people ever since Poindexter showed up to make you stop screwing with Dash. Forcing people to your will is something that _Vlad_ would do, something Vlad does on a regular basis!"

"It was just-"

"I'm not done, _Daniel Fenton_ ," Jazz's voice darkened. "If Mom and Dad knew, they would disapprove. _I_ disapprove. I may only be your sister, but someone needs to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Jazz, it's Halloween..." he protested weakly, shame slowly creeping into his gaze.

"Which means nothing. Did you see how freaked out Wes looked when you left his body? I did."

"I... I know. I've kind of accepted that he already knows my secret. He's passed the point of convincing otherwise, so what more do you want me to say?" Wes recognized the self-disappointment in his voice, and kind of enjoyed it.

"You don't have to say anything," she replied coldly. "I don't care if you use your powers for fun, but that's one of the ones that's easily abused. That's why I don't think you should go to that 'big spooky Halloween party' in the Ghost Zone tonight. I don't care if it's at Ember's concert hall and that you're on a truce, I'm grounding you for the night-"

"Grounding?" Danny protested. "But-"

"I can do what I want." Wes couldn't really see from behind the trash cans, but he heard the sound of a bag unzipping. "You're walking home with me, and if you even _try_ to fly away, I'll use this Fenton Thermos on you-"

"You wouldn't-" Danny groaned.

"I _would_. And then when we get home, I'm setting up a halfa-proof portable ghost shield around your room until morning."

"What! That doesn't exist, you don't have that," Danny said.

Jazz scoffed, "Please, Danny. You and I have both had blueprints shoved down our throats before we could speak. It wasn't that difficult for me to reprogram one of Dad's shields with yours and Plasmius's ectosignatures."

"That's not fair!"

"Overshadowing Wes wasn't fair," she responded.

Danny was silent. "I... I won't do it again. Unless it's life or death."

"Good. Now we're leaving. You can text Sam and Tucker that their Ghost Zone party plans are canceled."

The two siblings walked away, leaving Wes with much more evidence than before.

* * *

 **So far, I have to admit this has been my favorite chapter to write. I didn't intend for it to be this long, but I ended up writing a few unplanned scenes, such as the dialogue when they're shopping for Danny's costume, when Danny overshadowed Wes, or that last conversation with Jazz. Unlike a lot of the previous chapters, there were no Tumblr headcanons or fanart ideas I based this on. I came up with the entire plot for the chapter one night and fell in love with the idea that Wes tried to convince Danny he was overshadowed.**

 **On another note, I'm going to spend some time at my grandparent's in the next few weeks and I don't know how often I'm going to be able to write. The updates may slow down, but chances are they won't. And once again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed. It really means a lot to me :)**

 **Also, props to those who get the reference in the chapter name. I've been meaning to get into more Blue** **Öyster Cult lately, but haven't had the time.**


	12. Nothing to Hide

Chapter Eleven: Nothing to Hide

* * *

Do you ever feel like you've accomplished something that seemed impossible for others to replicate, almost soaring up to could nine, only to be recklessly pulled to the ground in one gigantic sweep that makes you question what the hell you've been doing with your life? Like in Kindergarten, when you finally build the most impressive tower out of those cardboard blocks that look like neon bricks for some reason. You're convinced it's the new Empire State building, nothing can crush your pride. But then... that snot-nosed boy who sits across from you (and totally has a cooler backpack than you, but you would never admit it) walks right up and knocks it all down. And then what's worse – when your Kindergarten teacher doesn't even see anything and you're the one who gets in trouble for kicking the other boy in the leg.

That's exactly how Wes felt in Mr. Lancer's class when he gaped at Danny Fenton/Phantom... twice. _How the fuck-_

It had been a typical morning in English; a room of twenty-five semi-brain-dead teenagers, victim to the drawl of Mr. Lancer's monotone spiel. Most people had their heads down, like they were trying to glue their chins to their desk. Hell, Wes was near the back of the room, and he could hear Kwan snoring in the front row (he suspected he was still on a hangover from Halloween, despite the fact that it was over three days ago). While Wes was tired, he wasn't as out of it as Kwan, he still had the decency to _pretend_ to be awake.

As he dully glanced around the classroom from time to time, Wes's eyes always seemed to be drawn back to Danny. He was just there, leaning on his textbook, watching Mr. Lancer. It was almost as if he was trying to act particularly ordinary today, and the thought of that unsettled Wes to the very edge. _He's planning something,_ Wes narrowed his eyes, _he has to be._

"And if everybody would now turn to page, 391..." Mr. Lancer droned. With a sigh of contempt, he flipped the page, but while doing so he never took his eyes off Danny. Wes noted that it took Danny about twenty seconds longer than anyone else to comply with Mr. Lancer's instructions. Something was clearly off today... he seemed to be having delayed reactions.

And that's when he saw it. For a moment, Wes's eyes flicked up, noticing movement in the window behind Danny. Wes's eyes grew tenfold when he saw Danny Phantom _just floating_ (that overconfident, shit eating, intangible _little bastard!_ ) outside of _his classroom_ without a care in the world. His glowing green eyes danced in amusement, and he did a quick backflip in the air. The most spine chilling part of it? Phantom was looking at him directly in the eye. _What. The. Fuck._

With an overwhelming twitch, Wes's mind kicked into panic mode. _How? What? Just... how are you doing that? Holy shit, shit, shit. What is happening?_

Danny Fenton was still sitting at his desk, looking as bored as ever. He didn't even spare a glance in Phantom's direction, as if he was completely unaware of the ghost's presence. At the same time, Danny Phantom displayed a performance of complicated dives and loop-de-loops that could only be achieved by someone who could bend the laws of physics (and since he was a ghost, he _could_ defy physics).

But none of it made sense! They were supposed to be the same person! How could Fenton be in class and Phantom be outside! It just wasn't possible for Danny to be in both Fenton and Phantom forms simultaneously. But what if... what if he had been wrong. No, Danny had to be both. There was no way that they could be different people, especially after all the evidence he had collected.

They had the same facial structure, body type, hair style, voice, and name. Until now, they have never been seen at the same time, but usually within a few minutes of each other. Fenton mysteriously disappears at all hours when there's a ghost attack. Phantom mysteriously disappears when there isn't a ghost attack. Phantom even sometimes uses Fenton Works inventions! There was Wes's experience with overshadowing a few nights ago, and the strange white light he keeps seeing. Not to mention everything that he had overheard Danny say to his sister and friends about ghosts and secrets and healing and – UHHH! Fenton _had_ to be Phantom!

These thoughts rolled around in Wes's head as he watched the ghost-boy perform another loop-de-loop. He continued to taunt Wes until Paulina dramatically stood up and shouted, "IS THAT THE GHOST-BOY?!"

He vanished within seconds, leaving a majority of the class in a plight of confusion.

* * *

Two long weeks. Seventeen recorded sightings of Danny Phantom in Amity Park. Roughly thirty cups of coffee. Four completed homework assignments.

And one overbearing dilemma: _were Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom the same person_? Wes had been positive, completely sure that Fenton was 'Public Ghost Enemy #1'. But he couldn't figure out how Danny had done it! How was he able to be Fenton and Phantom at once? At a lost for answers, Wes started investigating other alternatives... the reality that Danny Fenton and Phantom were two different beings. Or another solution he didn't want to visit... had Wes been seeing things?

On that day, Wes found himself in the class where it all began, first period English, where Mr. Lancer excessively ear-raped them for a full ninety minutes. Wes hadn't paid attention to the material in weeks, he just couldn't find the point in doing it – he was going to make a poor grade no matter how much he tried. He had more important things to worry about, like exposing Danny as a ghost. It's not like he really needed to fight for good grades; his life was going one of two paths. He was either going to follow in his father's footsteps and get a job as a secretary (which he absolutely relented the thought of) or he was going to get a kickass basketball scholarship.

While Wes tuned Mr. Lancer out, he tuned in to what Danny was doing. For some reason, Danny seemed more awake than usual, and was actually playing Tetris on his BlackBerry under the desk. The black-haired boy smiled to himself as Mr. Lancer absently overlooked his phone. Immediately, a spike of anger rose up in Wes. He didn't really care that Danny was playing games in class, he just wanted to know why he had to look so fucking smug about it? The stupid look on Danny's face reminded Wes of someone who had just mooned the copy machine and got away with it.

Wait... copy machine. _Copies_. Holy sh – how could he have overlooked that? Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?

"OH MY GOD, GHOSTS CAN DUPLICATE!" Without even realizing, Wes had bolted upright in his chair and knocked over his reading material.

Mr. Lancer stopped talking, and everyone's eyes were on him. There was a familiar air of confusion that swept over the room, a look of bewilderment crossing every person's face (especially Valerie – in her perspective Wes was Phantom, so why the hell had he screamed "ghosts can duplicate"?). Picking up on the tension in the room, Wes quickly sat back down.

"Mr. Weston..." said Mr. Lancer.

"Uh, yeah?" Wes said, not even bothering to make eye-contact with the furious teacher.

"Please keep your outbursts to yourself. You can speculate about ghosts in detention."

"Yes sir," he mumbled. Mr. Lancer picked up his book once again, and resumed droning.

" _Pssst, Wes,_ " Valerie said from the seat beside him.

"Yeah, Val?" he glanced at her.

"What the _hell_?" she questioned, "You told me the other day you were working on duplicating. Did it _suddenly occur to you_ that ghosts have that power and you're a ghost?"

"I – uh –" even if Wes told Valerie that he wasn't Phantom, she would never believe him. She was under the assumption that she had been allies with him for the past few weeks, but in reality she had been teaming up with Fenton. "– yeah, that."

"Dumbass," she muttered, before going back to following along with Lancer's reading.

Wes looked back at Danny, and this time, Danny looked back. He threw Wes a shit-eating smirk, and his eyes flashed a radioactive green for about three seconds.

A tsunami of anger overcame Wes, and he let out a defiant yell, "YOU PLANNED THIS, YOU _SON OF A BITCH_!"

Mr. Lancer threw down his book, raising his voice to rival Wes's, "DOUBLE DETENTION WESTON, AND SEE ME AFTER CLASS."

* * *

Messing with Wes Weston wasn't _exactly_ something he had planned when he decided to practice duplication in class, but he had to admit, the principle of it was sort of funny. Ever since he had recklessly overshadowed Wes at the Phantober Fest, which Jazz had made him feel completely guilty about, there was no denying it; Wes obviously knew what had happened. Danny didn't know what had come over him in that moment when he had decided to enter his body, but he regretted it. He wasn't going to be overshadowing anyone for a long time, since he was ashamed of his thoughtless power abuse.

But, ever since that moment, the idea of convincing Wes that he was wrong... just felt pointless. At least Danny knew that with Wes's current evidence and failed attempts, nobody _else_ was going to believe that he was Phantom anytime soon. He had just had to ensure that Wes didn't get any _serious_ dirt on him, like a video of him transforming or something. After all, without physical proof, the truth is too far-fetched for anyone to even contemplate.

Of course, just because Wes officially 'knew', he wasn't going to drop all precautions – that was irrational. There were some people that might figure his secret out, like Valerie or his parents. But when it was between him and Wes... their relationship had evolved to the point where Danny felt perfectly comfortable with using some of his powers in subtlety.

Like the duplication fluke, for example. When Danny saw Wes start to look over to where he was floating near the window (he wasn't that good yet, so he had to keep his duplicates in a close range), he decided to stay where he was instead of recalling his duplicate. As Fenton, it took all of his will not to burst out laughing in class when he saw his horror-struck expression, and only dismissed the duplicate when Paulina had drawn attention to him.

For the next two weeks, he watched Wes become more and more unhinged, trying to determine how he had pulled off the duplication trick. _Maybe_ , he thought, _I've finally convinced Wes he's wrong!_ But, somehow, he had figured it out, when he screamed it at the top of his lungs. Finally realizing that it was a pointless attempt, Danny took advantage of the moment, made sure to look at him directly, and let his eyes turn green for effect. Once again, Wes flipped out and racked up two detentions.

So honestly, it wasn't that much of a surprise when Wes led a group of A-Listers and other students towards his lunch table two days later.

"And here comes the peanut gallery," Sam mutters, aggressively stabbing her salad.

"You gonna do anything, Danny?" Tucker asks.

"Depends on what he wants," Danny replied, as Wes finally reached the table.

"Hello, Phantom," Wes said.

"I'm not Phantom, Wes," Danny said, taking note of all the A-Listers watching him. "But if you're saying that I can pull off the superhero look, then thanks."

Star snorted, "Superhero of what? The only thing you're capable of saving is a word document."

Danny shrugs, "I guess. Now, Wes what're you going to accuse me of this time?"

"I have solid evidence," he claimed. "Look at these."

He brought out two pictures of Danny – one of Fenton, one of Phantom.

"That's a picture of me, and that's a picture of Phantom."

"No. Those are both pictures of you. One of them is photoshopped to look like Phantom. All I had to do was change the color of the hair and change the clothes."

Dash frowned, "That looks too real to be photoshop."

"Well," Wes said furtively, "I'm really good at photoshop."

"Then why does Fenton look like Phantom?" Paulina questioned, "He's not nearly as hot enough in real life, so it has to be fake."

"That's an ego booster," Danny muttered.

"Will you people take me seriously for once?!" Wes cried, "I'm showing you foolproof evidence and all of you are just ignoring me!"

"I'm listening Wes," Danny smirked. Wes's eye twitched for a moment, but before he could say something, another voice spoke up.

"I hate to break it to you," Tucker held up the picture of Phantom, "but this isn't photoshopped at all. This is a picture of Phantom that can easily be found online."

"No it can't," Wes declared.

"Uh," Tucker said, "yeah it can." He held up his PDA which showed a web-browser and the same picture of Phantom that Wes had claimed was photoshopped (little did they know that it was a fake browser and Tucker had inconspicuously scanned the picture when nobody was looking).

"Looks like you're lying, after all Phantom," Dash spat at Wes. The A-List walked away, chortling with laughter.

"I GIVE UP!" Wes screamed, drawing the attention of everyone else in the cafeteria. They quickly realized it was just Weston being Weston again, and returned to their lunches.

"Hey, Wes," Danny said, continuing to keep up the act, "better luck next time. But if you really want someone to believe you, you might want to ask the nerds. They're more open-minded to sci-fi."

"Is it really sci-fi when it's real life?" Wes argued.

"I don't know..." Danny said, letting on a little more, "but I'd say my life is pretty sci-fi. I mean the ghost powers and all fit the criteria, don't they?"

"You..." Wes muttered, letting blind rage best him. He grabbed Danny's shirt collar, only to topple backwards in surprise when Danny momentarily turned intangible.

"Danny," Sam hissed, "someone might be looking."

"I timed it when no one was looking," he reassured.

"YOU FUCKING DICKFACE!" Wes boiled with anger.

" _WES WESTON_!"

"Oh shit," Wes said. Ms. Merluzzi, one of the strictest teachers in Casper High was marching over to them.

"Weston," she said slowly, "I've heard of you having many unnecessary outbursts in the past few days. Explain the meaning of this."

"Fenton started it," he accused. "He was... provoking me."

"Fenton," she turned to Danny, "is this true?"

"Even if I say no, you won't believe me," Danny said. "No one really believes me anymore, but I'm used to it."

"Maybe it's because you have the reputation of one of the most troublesome students in this school," Ms. Merluzzi furrowed her brow. "Now, since it's the beginning of lunch I'll be a little lenient. The two of you will report to my room today and tomorrow for lunch detention. No 'buts'. A little disciplinary action doesn't hurt every once in a while. Now get moving."

Within four minutes, the two of them found themselves sitting next to each other in the geometry room in awkward silence. What was worse was that Wes was glaring at him the entire time. Danny managed to ignore the glares, until a cold sensation slithered up his throat and came out as a blue wisp when he exhaled: his ghost sense. He eyes darted around the room... if he could just figure out which direction it was – he could ditch Wes before he noticed and –

Somebody outside of the classroom screamed. "GHOST IN THE CAFETERIA! RUN!" You could hear the footfalls of forty to fifty students running down the hall at once. Danny groaned, this was _not_ his day.

Almost reflexive (well, it was reflexive for Danny) the two of them jumped from their seats and looked out the door to see everyone running. Some people had random burn marks on their clothes... Danny figured that Sam and Tucker was holding the ghost off, and he needed to fly over and help them as soon as possible. The problem was –

"OH GEE, a GHOST is attacking," Wes gestured with his hands. "Looks like we could really use _Danny Phantom_ right about now!"

 _Wes._ The problem was Wes.

Danny kept a fairly neutral expression. He knew had to do something… when an idea popped into his head. He looked Wes straight in the eyes and smiling a little bit, "Y'know Wes? You're totally right."

Without a moment of hesitation, Danny lets the rings form around him, triggering his transformation. The rings split, replacing Danny's day clothes with Phantom's signature jumpsuit. Wes stared in absolute horror as blue eyes and black hair were changed to green eyes and white hair within seconds. A trickle of sweat ran down Wes's face, as he clenched his fists, _did that really just happen..._ Wes's mouth fell to the floor when Danny gave Wes one last look before flying _through_ a wall, "Bye!"

Holy. Fucking. Shit. He'd been right this entire time. He felt numb, and really, really angry. He didn't really know why he was angry when he was so numb, but all of Wes's emotions just jumbled together. Fenton was able to turn into Phantom by will. Those ring thingies and –

Fuck – he couldn't do this. He just couldn't. Sure, he'd already known Fenton was Phantom – but seeing it? He needed aspirin. Just remembering what he had seen seconds ago was starting to hurt his brain. He couldn't stay here – he had to get out. For now, at least.

* * *

He knew it probably wasn't a good thing, but Danny laughed immensely when he heard Wes had cut the rest of the day because he'd told the nurse he had a 'headache'. After school let out, he'd told Sam and Tucker about what he'd done, and they also seemed to think it was funny.

"So-" Tucker choked, "you just flew out?"

"Yep," Danny grinned, sipping on his shake from the Nasty Burger.

"What did his face look like?" Sam asked.

"Confused and angry," Danny said, "like Kwan whenever someone asks him a question in class."

"So the 'deer-in-the-headlights' look?" Tucker laughed.

"No," Danny explained, "it was more aggressive. Like this." He twisted his face into an expression of surprise and rage, making his eyebrows shoot up as high as they could.

"Isn't that the look Vlad gets whenever you call him a Froot Loop?" Sam questioned.

"No," Tucker replied for him, "that's more like this." He made the angriest face he could make, and lowered his voice, " _I'm not a Froot Loop, I am an edgy vampire! I feast on the blood of kittens and homeless children!_ "

At that moment in town hall, Walter Weston found a fuming Vlad Masters glaring at a computer monitor. On it was footage from the Nasty Burger, focused on three teens exchanging laughter. Angrily, Vlad exited the browser.

"Walter," he drawled, "apparently your son has discovered the existence of half-ghosts. With this information, he could be very dangerous to me. Can you do your best to make sure that his research stays primarily on the case of Danny Phantom, otherwise known as Danny Fenton?"

Walter blinked, "The Fentons' son is a ghost? And Phantom? But didn't you try to experiment on-"

"We're aware of each other," Vlad said curtly. "I needed him for something, that time. Anyways, keep a close eye on your son. He already knows too much information."

Walter nodded, "Yes sir."

* * *

 **So Danny finally transformed in front of Wes. I can't believe we've already gotten to that part. I know a lot of you have been waiting for this for a while, and others might think it's too soon, but I think it's finally time for the story to move on. Yaay, plot progression!**

 **Also, how the hell did I write over 3K words for this chapter? Damn...**


	13. Morning Journals

Chapter Twelve: Morning Journals

* * *

In a way, it felt like an anvil had been momentarily lifted off of his chest. Wes knew for sure that he wasn't crazy; Fenton and Phantom were actually the same person. That stupid bastard was leading everyone on, fooling them into believing that Wes was delusional. All of the torment and the Phantom jokes thrown at him, it was all Danny's fault... all of it. He could have spoken up at any moment, claimed instant popularity and praise by just telling the truth about his dual identities. Wes just couldn't understand why he was keeping it a secret, everybody _loved_ Phantom (even Valerie had gone out of her way to prove that she could accept Phantom if she knew he was part human).

If there was one thing Wes knew for certain, Danny had no excuse for keeping his secret this long. And what was more infuriating was the fact that even though he knew Danny's secret, Wes still had no way to prove it to the rest of Amity Park. Damn it! It was like he'd been set up from the start. There had to be _something_ he could do to expose Danny as a ghost!

Wes scrunched his eyes shut in frustration. He tried to recall the exact details of Danny's transformation twenty-four hours previous. Those white rings appeared first, triggering the flash of light that he kept seeing. They slid over his body, changing his physical, human clothes into the trademark, incorporeal jumpsuit. They sapped his pitch black hair of any color, leaving it completely white (saving his eyebrows for some reason) and switching cool blue eyes to harsh green. He had seemed so comfortable just floating off the floor, being released from the tether of gravity. And when he looked Wes straight in the eye... that spine-chilling gaze. He _knew_ what was going through Wes's head, he _knew_ how much this had been tearing him apart for the past two months, and he _enjoyed_ it. Not wanting to be subject of this internal torture for any longer, Wes brought out his notebook and started scribbling ideas on how to reveal Danny's secret. He needed proof. It's not like anybody would take his word for it, nobody believed the crazy kid after all. So the simplest solution would be to get a recording of Danny changing forms ( _changing forms_... how weird does that sound?). Maybe there was even some way to force his transformation... if he could figure out how to do that, oh Wes would have _fun_ with that.

But while Wes came up with more and more ridiculous fantasies on how to mercilessly expose Danny, he realized that he wasn't actually getting anywhere. He needed to do more research on half-ghosts, but the internet was lacking in any sound resources in what he was looking for. He would go to the library, but anything about ghosts was either two centuries out of date or already checked out (Paulina Sanchez had a majority of the paranormal books reserved for her own personal 'research').

Feeling defeated, Wes decided that the internet would have to do for the moment, even if the search results kept returning the same collection of useless articles. He continued to skim for the next few hours, until he came across the same article about hybrids he'd found two months back. It was the one that had been written by that doctor in Wisconsin roughly twenty years ago before he lost his marbles. Even though the author had a shady reputation, Wes found that the information it presented about human-ghost hybrids similarly lined up with Danny. The doctor, Dr. Harris, had come across a majority of his information from a patient who had supposedly contracted 'ecto-acne', a condition the Fentons' had advertised to take precaution against after there was a contained outbreak in Amity Park a few months back.

After deciding that the patient in the article was definitely like Danny, Wes found himself wondering how this guy and Danny had ended up with ghost powers. Not to mention, the identity of the mysterious patient. To keep anonymity or some shit, the author had referred to the man (it was clearly a man by the pronouns used in the article) as 'VM'. Figuring that VM was the guy's initials, Wes scribbled them out on a sticky note: **'VM – name?'** He figured it was useless because he probably didn't know the guy, after all it was twenty years ago and he might as well be dead, but something in his gut _told_ him that it was important.

After searching through multiple Google pages, Wes decided to call it a night. Shutting off his computer, he climbed into bed. Looking at his clock, he groaned. It was already 2:40 a.m., and his Dad wanted to take him to some lame work picnic early in the morning. _Great, exactly what he needed, another night of hardly any sleep._

* * *

Call Danny crazy, but he was somewhat proud of Youngblood this time. The little brat was finally going through his astronaut phase, and strangely, it made the 4 a.m. fight _completely_ worth it. Sure, he was about a week behind in sleep (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration) and was already bruised from head to toe from his fight with Skulker... but God dammit! He'd been waiting to use space puns for forever!

So after he'd caught Youngblood and his stupid parrot he floated around a little bit and somehow found himself outside of Wes Weston's apartment. To be honest, he'd been flying on autopilot and hadn't been paying attention where he was going (he thinks subconsciously it was just to avoid going home – his Dad installed a new security system that was supposed to wake up the entire house when a ghost came in, but Jazz reassured him that she'd tampered with a little, which didn't entirely resolve his anxiety).

Danny glanced in Wes's window, just to see if he was still awake or not. He hadn't seen the red-headed boy since two days earlier when he'd blatantly transformed in front of him (it was still, _totally worth it_ ). Seeing that Wes was sprawled across his bed, definitely asleep, an idea struck Danny. Grinning, he phased straight through the wall and examined the boy's room for a moment. This was going to be great... after all, what was the point of even having ghost powers if you didn't completely scare the shit out of someone sometimes?

He originally intended to rearrange some of the things in his room, making it clear that something had been there – creepy, but practically harmless. But when Danny was looking through some of Wes's stuff, he found something that piqued his interest: **'Journal of Phantom Data'** Okay, he just _had_ to see what he had here.

Danny flipped open the front cover and started reading. The first few pages were filled with random graphs comparing the frequency of his bathroom breaks to his ghost fights. But after that... it started to gradually grow more into a personal diary.

 _Entry 6, October 7th, 2005_

 _Today I managed to tail Fenton for about an hour. Manson and Foley were there too. Around 4 pm he left to go to the bathroom in the Nasty Burger, and Phantom showed up fighting that Tech ghost (Techpiss or something) downtown near that pizza restaurant dad takes me sometimes. I almost asked Star to go there with me once, but then I kinda accidentally smelled her hair and couldn't think straight so I just left and never thought to bring it up again. Oh and her hair smelled like strawberries and vanilla. Anyway I tried running downtown, but by the time I got there Fenton had somehow gotten back to the Nasty Burger. When I went back there the three of them were already gone again, and I only found out because I asked Valerie. And then Valerie got mad at me because she told me to "drop my obsession with Danny, and that I need to mind my own business because he is under the Red Huntress's protection" or some shit. I don't know how I'm gonna tell her that I'm not Phantom – it's already been two days since she forced me into making Fenton's truce for her, which is really fucking stupid. I haven't seen Fenton since then, but I need to buy another camera because Valerie broke mine. She's mean to me._

At those words, Danny had to stifle his laughter to keep from waking Wes up. Skimming through the journal, Danny managed to get a light grasp of Wes's opinion of him.

 _Entry 11, October 18th, 2005_

 _My Halloween is gonna be fucking ruined. And it's all Fenton's fault. Lemme start at the beginning, yesterday morning I saw Fenton at his locker and hung around close enough to hear him talking to his sister on the phone. From what I could hear, he was talking about some kind of "healing factor". So later that day, I was bored in history, and he left for a ghost attack, so I started to follow him. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I wandered around outside the school for a few minutes, and when I snuck back in – Fenton was there, and he FUCKING RATTED ME OUT to Principal Ishiyama. She gave us a hell of a lecture and now I'm stuck with that arrogant, lying, dead bastard during Halloween. And worse... Ishiyama's making us wear costumes. I have plans to go shopping with Justin this weekend, but I don't really know what I want to do. Who knows? Maybe if I want to scare everyone, I can go as my Dad's creepy ass boss, Vlad Masters. He came over to our apartment last weekend for some reason, and I'm pretty sure he saw all of my pictures of Fenton in my room and he just started laughing. I'm normally freaked out by him, but that fucking crossed the line. So to piss him off, I blasted Kesha music as loud as I could in his face – and as far as I could tell it worked as a pretty decent Vlad repellent._

At that point, Danny was rolling on the floor laughing. _Vlad repellent..._ He was gonna have to tell this one to Tucker, it would be great material for their next pranking spat. Before he knew it, another laugh escaped his lips, and he did nothing to cover it. Until... he remembered where he was – oh, fuck. He froze in his tracks, and found that Wes was starting to wake up. Shit.

* * *

Wes jolted from his sleep, sitting straight up. His heart ran a relay in his chest, he swore he fucking heard someone _laugh_. Feeling slightly disoriented from sitting up so quickly, Wes haphazardly glanced around his room and saw no intruders. It had probably just been a nightmare... Wondering what ungodly time of night it was, he threw a glance at the clock. It was 4:23 a.m.; he'd only been asleep for about two hours. Then, his eyes shifted to his nightstand, where his Phantom journal lay face open. _What the hell? Hadn't he left it by his computer?_

An unsettling feeling burrowed its way into Wes's chest. The fact that it was completely dark in his room immediately became disturbing to him, so he reached over and turned his bedside lamp on. Light filled the room, and Wes hesitantly picked up the book. It was open to an entry he had written a month ago, which was definitely _not_ something he had done. He'd left the book closed on the other side of the room... so how had-?

Had his Dad come into his room in the middle of the night to read his journal? No. Walter would never do that; he wasn't the type to go snooping around, especially when it came to Wes. Seeing as there was nobody else in their apartment, that meant there was only one plausible deduction.

A ghost had come into his room and read his journal.

And only one ghost had a motive to do that: Danny.

Suddenly feeling very invaded, Wes wondered if Danny was still lurking around in his room, watching invisibly as Wes stared at his journal in confusion. It was an unsettling thought that he was being watched... even right now.

"Danny, if you're even here, screw you, and go to sleep, you dick."

Wes felt both startled and reassured when the temperature in his room rose by a few degrees.

* * *

Walter Weston was a very competent man, and perhaps more insightful than anybody else could give him credit for. In fact, if he hadn't been tied to the same secretary job for the past seven years, he might have been the head of his own company by now. But after all these years... he couldn't bring himself to leave Vlad Masters. At first, he had stayed purely out of fear, but now something else kept him at the billionaire's side. Probably _loyalty_ or some bullshit.

To this day, he could still recall the day he had stumbled upon Vlad's _dirty little secret_. It had happened about a year into the job, nearly six years ago. At the time, he had been a single father of an eight-year old boy making frequent commutes up to Wisconsin to do paperwork for one of America's richest. Honestly, Walter had noticed a number of strange things about Vlad from the beginning – they were hard not to notice. From simple behavioral quirks such as muttering indecipherable things under his breath, to the way he seemed to unnaturally glide when he walked. And his mansion... that place gave him the creeps. Sure, it seemed harmless at first: a giant castle decorated in the signature colors of the Green Bay Packers and had all the latest technologies money would buy. But the place gave off an aura... that there was something dark lingering within those corridors. Not to mention, even if he turned the A/C as high as it would go, the temperature would never reach above 60º.

It had been a regular day in mid-February and Walter had been emailed a shit-ton of papers that Vlad needed to sign. So he printed them, and approached Vlad's office. Remembering Vlad's rule about barging in unannounced (which had been made clear to him from the very beginning), he stood outside the giant mahogany door between him and Mr. Masters.

"Um sir," Walter said hesitantly, "Kav Corp just sent a bunch of papers for you to sign concerning your latest business deal with them."

"They don't waste any time do they," Vlad grumbled, his voice sounding both muffled and echoey from behind the door. "I just made that damn deal last night."

"Well, that's the world of business for you," Walter said. "Everything's faster with the help of the Internet."

"Well the Internet can fuck off," he heard Vlad say, "I'm busy."

"May I ask doing what sir?" Walter asked.

"Personal planning for future projects."

Walter furrowed his eyebrows."Is this another classified thing that you think I don't know about?"

His boss started laughing, "Oh, I _know_ you don't know about this."

"Well," Walter was starting to get irritated with the evasion of the topic, "you still need to sign these papers, sir."

"Give me a minute, leave them outside the door," he paused. "You can go and play Solitaire or something."

"With all due respect, I don't think these can wait. Kav Corp needs these signed as soon as possible, and the last two times you told me to leave them outside your door they didn't get signed for at least four days. I think it's in the best interest of DALV for you to sign these now."

"Walter..." Vlad's voice suddenly grew grim, "I will not say it again, _leave them outside the damn door._ "

Growing tired of this idiocy, Walter resolved to push open the door to his boss's office so he could see him face to face. He was frustrated with arguing with a door. "Mr. Masters, whatever this personal planning is, it can-"

Walter never finished his sentence. In Vlad's office, sitting (floating, hovering?) in his boss's seat, was a terrifying monster with blue skin, glowing red eyes, a questionable haircut that resembled devil horns, fangs, and a white and red cape. Everything in Walter told him to _do something_ , scream, run hightail out of the office, or do anything other than what he did. But his body was petrified, he couldn't bring himself to move it, or even make a sound. _Was this was shock felt like_ , he thought helplessly. The creature's horrible red eyes bore into him, and he looked back. And it was in that moment, he noticed that thing in front of him looked as nearly frightened as he was.

As soon as Walter got over his initial shock, his mind went into overload with questions. _What was this thing? What was it doing here? How was it floating? Why did it look like a vampire?_ Was it _a vampire? Where was Mr. Masters? Had Mr. Master's been in this office at all? Had it been mimicking him, or was it a recording? Was it hiding Mr. Masters? Had it eaten Mr. Masters?_ But all he managed to get out was, "Are – h – how – Masters – what – you – what is – what are – oh, God."

In that moment, all of Walter's blood went cold. The thing locked eyes with Walter once again and spoke, "I told you not to come in without warning."

Walter felt sick... it had spoken with Vlad's voice. So that meant that... that thing was Vlad? How did that make sense? His boss was human right? He had to be loosing his mind. There was no way that Vlad Masters could be anything other than human, because there wasn't anything other than human beings. There was no such thing in the paranormal! But here in front of him was... this blue skinned creature that spoke with his boss's voice. How was that supposed to be explained?

"Is... is that really you, Mr. Masters?" Walter chalked up the courage to speak again.

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you I was a new AI robot?" the thing – Vlad, asked hopefully.

Walter wasn't convinced in his ill thought cover-up for a moment, "No."

"Butter biscuits..." the thing cursed, "it was worth trying." In a moment Walter wasn't prepared for, a white light exploded out of nowhere, leaving two black rings surrounding Vlad. They moved around his form, revealing the now _very human_ Vlad Masters.

Walter's draw had dropped to the floor, "Wha-"

"You will not tell anyone, about this. If you let one word slip out, I will bury you, your son, your siblings, and anyone you've ever loved. Got it? You will not talk about this to anyone, try not to even _think_ about it if you have to."

Walter nodded.

"Good. Now close your mouth, you're drooling on my very expensive carpet."

He gulped, "If – if you don't mind me asking – uh, what was that?"

Vlad froze for a moment, running something over in his head, before he invited Walter to sit down with him. "Do you believe in ghosts Walter?"

"Not really. But I might be having seconds thoughts..."

"In college, me and a few friends had a strong interest in the paranormal. Back then we thought we were so _clever_ ," he said the word bitterly, "so we tried messing with a portal to another dimension. The thing blew up in my face, and left me hospitalized. I never heard from those friends again, and from my time in the hospital, I realized that the accident left me with more than ghost acne."

"I'm sorry," Walter interjected, "did you say _ghost acne_?"

"Well the technical term is ecto acne. But anyway, the portal gave me ghost powers, and the ability to switch between a human and a ghost form at will. For the past fifteen years, I've used these powers to my personal advantage. And... in the past fifteen years, you're the first person to find out about this... condition of mine."

There was a moment of silence between the two, before Walter stood up from his seat, "You have my silence, sir."

"I should hope so," the man muttered.

"Hey, even if I do try to tell anyone, there's no chance anyone will believe me. Right now, _I_ don't even believe me. So don't stress about it too much, Mr. Masters."

Just as he was about to walk out of the office, Vlad spoke again, "Walter, wait."

"Yeah?"

"You can call me Vlad. I know it's not very business appropriate, but... this is personal now."

Walter smiled."Thanks, _Vlad_. But don't think that fancy ghost powers will get you out of signing those papers."

And that had been that, for the past six years Walter had kept Vlad's secret, even when the world was slowly starting to accept the existence of the paranormal as he did years ago. But now... his son, Wes, had somehow found his way onto the same track he was on. Danny Fenton was also a half-ghost, and Wes was jeopardizing Vlad's work to keep half-ghosts secret. If there was anything Walter could do, it was to keep Wes off of Vlad's trail. He found himself in his son's room one day when he was gone to school. There was a sticky note on his computer that read **'VM – name?'** next to a printed article of a record of Vlad's hospitalization. Walter grabbed the sticky note and the article and put them through the paper shredder. It was for the best that Wes didn't figure anything else out.


	14. Wes's New Bestie

Chapter Thirteen: Wes's New Bestie

* * *

 _Two days._ All Wes asked for was two stress-free days before Thanksgiving break, _but no_. The universe decided that it was completely ready to dish out whatever hell it cooked up right then and there. It started when one of the A-Listers thought they'd be clever and sabotage the movie Lancer had queued up for them to watch that morning with footage of Phantom fighting that warden ghost. Apparently the video of the fight was all over the Internet, and everyone had something to say about 'one of the most epic ghost battles caught on camera'.

At first, the video of Danny kicking some ghost ass had left Mr. Lancer's class ecstatic. That was... until Lancer realized that what was being shown on the screen was not in fact _Fahrenheit 451_ , but the latest of Phantom's ghost fights.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lancer gestured to the screen, that was currently zoomed in on Danny while he made some 'witty' remark. "Which one of you delinquents replaced my movie with _this_?"

Nobody spoke. It was like the room was frozen, and the entire room was torn between trying to avoid Lancer's fury or focus on the video of Phantom in the background. A few girls whispered 'go Phantom!' when he was shown kicking Walker in the face. Wes wanted to repeatedly bang his head against his desk, but refrained from doing so. Eventually Lancer caught on that some of his students were still focused on the video rather than him, so he paused the video.

"I want an answer, _now_. Which one of you did this?"

There was silence once again, as no one dared to confess. With every passing second, Lancer continued to grow more irritable. It didn't feel like anyone was going to come forward, but Wes had his eye on Kwan and one of the more quiet nerds, Ricky, who seemed to be having some kind of staring argument. Finally, Ricky looked away from Kwan and met eyes with Mr. Lancer.

"I – I did it, Mr. – Mr. Lancer," the boy stuttered.

Mr. Lancer's attitude seemed to completely flip. Ricky was one of his best students, basically the teacher's pet. It took almost everyone aback that he confessed to actually _doing it_. And strangely enough, he wasn't even that much of a hardcore Phantom fan in the first place. But Wes, with a few others were able to read in between the lines. Kwan had forced him into confessing for him, blackmail probably.

"Ricky, what on Earth possessed you to replace _Fahrenheit 451_ with that ghost fighting garbage?"

At that there were a number of protests from various students that Phantom's epic battle, was not and would never be garbage. Funnily enough, Wes noticed that Danny was laughing at the antics of his fans. _Jerk._

"I – I don't know," Ricky said. "It was cool I guess. That's why."

"Besides," Star leaned back in her seat, "that movie's bor- _ing_. If you want to see someone burning books, there's a part in the fight where the ghost cop destroys a bookstore."

Lancer's eye twitched, but he brushed it off. "Enough commentary Ms. Evans. Mr. Marsh, go to the Principal's office, right now."

Ricky's cheeks turned pink, "I – uh, don't know where that is."

Lancer sighed, "I'll take you there, then. As for everyone else," he turned to the class, "I expect order in my classroom until I get back."

As soon as he walked out of the door with Ricky, the class launched into a full blown discussion about Phantom. As usual, he was promptly ignored by everyone. Everybody knew that trying to talk to him about Phantom was like poking a bear with a stick. Once you got Wes started, there was no turning back. You would get charts and evidence thrown in your face about how the town's hero was secretly the dorky son of Amity's ghost hunters who always ran off because he was too afraid of the ghosts. Even though his reputation was less than salvageable, Wes had no regrets.

"He's just so dreamy..." sighed a red-headed girl wistfully.

"'Dreamy'? What is this? The 1960s?" replied her friend. "I'm pretty sure that you mean that Phantom is _hot as fuck_."

"Hmm, I wonder if he's _from_ the '60s," Star said. "Nobody really knows how long he's been dead. I mean, he could be eons old."

"Or maybe," Wes muttered under his breath, "he's still alive and fooling all of you bitches."

"I wonder if they had knights when he was alive," breathed Paulina. "That would explain why he's so brave!"

Tucker snorted, "Danny _the knight in shining armor_ alright."

"Have you ever thought about riding into a ghost battle on horseback, Danny?" Sam asked.

"Shut up," said boy replied, smiling slightly.

"I wonder how old Phantom was when he died," Star pondered. "I mean, we've all assumed that he's our age, but what if he just looks really young. Like that one actor from _The Maze Runner_."

"I wouldn't care," Paulina said. "I'd love him no matter what."

"Even if he's the nerd sitting two seats across from you?" Wes muttered again.

"Yeah," Star said in response to Paulina, "but if you had to guess, how old would you say he is?"

Paulina thought for a moment, "Probably somewhere around seventeen."

"I always thought he looked younger than that," spoke another girl. "Maybe thirteen or fourteen. You have to admit it, but he's kinda prepubescent. Still hot though."

That went on for a while. All of the girls in the class launched a debate on how old Phantom was when he died. Wes tried to butt in so he could point out the obvious truth, but everyone simply talked over him when he tried to speak. Finally, after Paulina wrapped up her speech on why Phantom was definitely seventeen because their horoscopes aligned with the color of Britney Spears music or some nonsensical shit, Danny looked over at Wes and smirked.

"Say, Wes," Danny leaned on his desk, "how old do _you_ think Phantom is? I'm guessing fifteen."

Before Wes had the chance to punch him in the face, Paulina heard this and scoffed.

" _Please_ , Fenton. What the hell do _you_ know about Phantom? You've never been around during a ghost attack. I see him all the time, and we're practically boyfriend and girlfriend now. _You_ know nothing."

Danny shrugged, "I guess you're right, I do know nothing about Phantom. I've never even seen him in person, I've just seen him in the videos because I'm _terrified_ of ghosts. Isn't that right Wes?"

Wes couldn't help it anymore. All his concealed frustration bubbled to the surface... and he just screamed. And Wes had to misfortune to scream, the exact moment Lancer opened the classroom door. _Wonderful_.

* * *

After Wes's detention, he made his way to the Nasty Burger with his camera as usual. Most days that's where he found Danny and his friends hanging out between ghost attacks, and today wasn't any different. The three of them were laughing over something in their usual booth in the middle of the restaurant. Wes sat across the room, sipping his Nasty triple-chocolate milkshake as he stared them down. He guessed that they probably knew he was watching them, but were too smug to confront him. Well... one of these days their blind trust in his incompetence to gain dirt on them was going to come to an end. He would prove to the world that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person, no matter what it-

Wes was broken from his reverie when Valerie sat in the seat across from him. He raised an eyebrow in confusion; he knew for a fact that her shift wasn't supposed to be over until 8. So why the hell was she sitting with him?

"I told you to drop the fake obsession with Danny," she said coldly.

"It's not a fake obsession," Wes was quick to respond. "I'm just... watching him."

"For what?" Valerie asked. "Are you still trying to use him as an alibi? You're trying to convince people that Danny is Phantom, instead of you. Might I remind you, that it's completely pointless trying setting up fake evidence that Danny is a ghost, because you don't even need an alibi. Nobody knows about half-ghosts besides me, and Mr. Masters, therefore-"

Wes was taken by surprise, "What about Mr. Masters? You mean, _Vlad Masters_?"

Valerie was giving him that look again. The confused one where she assumed he knew more than he did because he was Phantom, when in reality he didn't know jack-shit. " _Yeah_ , I mean Vlad Masters," she said as it was the most obvious fact in the world. "You're the one who tried telling me about him, remember? Have you already forgotten about that time we formed a truce to save your cousin from his fruit-loopy plans?"

"Uh..." Wes trailed off nervously. "No?"

Valerie continued, "Well, after you left, I went back to his mansion and I saw him, well... _you know_. That was when I realized that you were right the entire time, and that Vlad was using me."

Wes's mouth was suddenly dry, "Well, I'm glad you figured that out. But uh... I'm confused, how _exactly_ does Vlad know about half-ghosts?"

She gave him _the look_ again, but this time it was more concerning than disbelief, "Wes, did you hit your head while fighting earlier?"

He gave a sheepish grin, "Something like that."

All of a sudden, Valerie's watch started beeping like crazy and Wes noticed that across the room, Danny had started looking around frantically. He figured that it was probably a good time to get the camera out. After all, the best way to predict when a ghost attack was about to occur was by watching the ghost hunters, considering that all of them were terribly paranoid.

He and Valerie shared a look before she ran out of the restaurant as fast as she could, presumably to put on her gear in the alley. Danny, on the other hand, ran to the bathroom and seconds later Wes noticed a black and white blur shooting out of the wall. As Wes gripped his camera, pushing past a very determined Sam, the first explosion happened. The patrons in the restaurant spared a glance at the windows, seeing Valerie fly by on her jet-sled before returning to normal chatter. _Only in Amity Park._

Finally outside, Wes started taking a hailstorm of pictures. He got as close to the fight as he could, making his presence painfully obvious (yet, Valerie failed to notice him). The two of them were fighting a green-skinned ghost with a flop of blonde hair and striped pink pajamas that seemed to have a special aggression with snowballs. At some point during the fight, Danny reassured Valerie that he had the ghost covered and that she could go back her job, and he heard her grumble as she flew away, "Could've told me that when we were sitting together in the Nasty Burger, Weston."

Unfortunately, the wind from her jet-sled threw Wes off balance, and he accidentally dropped his camera and it slid across the concrete directly underneath Danny and the weird pajama ghost. _Fuck_ , he paid $60 bucks for this new camera, his Dad would _kill him_ if it broke. He scrambled towards it, completely ignoring the stray misfires and falling ice shards around him. Finally, the camera was back in his hands, somehow unscathed. _Success!_ Or, at least he thought it was success. Seconds later, Danny screamed, "Watch out!" The next thing Wes knew, Danny had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and flew him away from the other ghost.

"What the hell are you thinking!?" Danny roared, casually throwing an ectoblast towards his opponent.

Wes crossed his arms, "I'm getting proof, you dick! What do you think I'm doing?"

"Oh, I don't know," Danny dodged a snowball, "it kind of looked like you were about to get yourself _impaled_ by an icicle."

"Well at least if I'm injured, then it's more dirt on you, Fenton!"

"Are you saying that you would've liked me to let you get hurt?" he put a shield between him and the pajama ghost. "God, you are fucking crazy."

"Oh yeah!?" Wes yelled. "You're just-"

"WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND?"

"Klemper," Danny's eyes glowed in irritation, "can't you see we're having a conversation here?"

"BE MY FRIEND!"

Wes cringed, "What's his problem?"

Danny's focus returned to Wes, and in that moment something changed in the ghost boy's glare. He looked between the green-skinned specter and Wes and smirked. _Oh God_. That was his ' _I'm gonna fuck with Wes today_ ' smirk. This wasn't going to end well, for anyone.

"You know what, Klemper?" Danny smiled, his white bangs falling perfectly into place, "I think we can resolve this. I know someone – not me – that will be your friend."

The other ghost stopped, looking at Danny curiously, "Friend?"

Danny gestured at Wes, sporting a crazy expression that could only haunt his nightmares. "Klemper... meet your new bestie!"

* * *

"That was a little harsh, don't you think, Danny?" Sam wondered.

"Please, Klemper is harmless to his friends. Sure, he doesn't actually look like it, but he's really smart."

"Uh, dude," Tucker chimed in, "what're you talking about? I thought Klemper was as dumb as they got."

"Nah, it's the opposite. His obsession is friendship, right?"

"Yeah," Sam said, "and whenever someone doesn't want to be friends with him, he fights them. So if Wes rejects Klemper, there's a big chance Klemper will hurt him, right?"

"Nope," Danny said. "The only people Klemper fights are us. Well and he helped us with Pariah, I guess. But as a ghost, he knows that the easiest way to appeal to someone's friendship is to use their obsession to his advantage. I heard that when he was trying to be friends with Ember, he chanted her name, because her obsession feeds off of her fame."

"So how does that explain why he fights us?" Tucker wondered.

"Because he thinks my obsession is fighting," Danny mimicked punching something.

A look of dawning came across the two humans. " _Oohh_."

"He thinks that I enjoy fighting, so to become friends with me, he fights me. I don't enjoy it, but it's a little thoughtful? I mean, really my obsession is protecting, potayto potahto."

"So... what does that mean for Wes?" Sam returned to her original query.

"He's perfectly safe. Since he doesn't have an obsession, Klemper will probably just follow him around and try to do what he thinks Wes likes."

"In other words, you picked a pretty much benevolent ghost to follow Wes around."

"Yep. I'm not a psychopath, jeez. Who do you think I am? I spend my spare time protecting the city."

"I mean... sometimes with Wes, you get a little..." Tucker trailed off.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "A little what?"

"Cocky."

"Yeah, probably. I'd never let him get hurt on purpose, though."

* * *

Wes sat on his bed, rocking back and forth and clutching his ears. He just _wouldn't leave_. Is this what losing the will to live felt like? He hoped so... he just wanted him to go away already, no matter what it took.

It all had happened so fast; Klemper had captured him in a lung-crushing hug, muttering about friendship and eternal pinky promises while Danny vanished without a trace. The ghost had followed him home, and seemed to ignore all of Wes's protests and threats to leave him alone. His Dad was off on some trip again with Vlad (the morning before Walter had exclaimed something about Arizona and profits before running out of the apartment like a madman), so the two of them were home alone.

It was driving him _crazy_.

For one thing, Klemper wouldn't stop hugging him, or trying to give him 'brotherly kisses' as he put it. Wes didn't have any siblings, but he was pretty sure that there was nothing 'brotherly' about that. He also wouldn't stop singing (he was pretty sure _Les Misérables_ was _way_ out of the dude's range), and when Wes asked him to be quiet – he started sobbing. Oh, and every time he started crying, it started snowing in a fifteen foot radius. Not to mention, when he was left without supervision, Klemper would start going through all of Wes's belongings so they could 'share'. (Did all ghosts like looking through Wes's room?) And don't even get him started on the bathroom... that ghost had _no boundaries_.

Somewhere around his third hour of enduring Klemper's torture, Wes got the idea to call someone to help get rid of him. Unfortunately, there wasn't many people Wes could go to for help. Valerie wouldn't help him, because she assumed that he _was_ a ghost hunter. Danny and his friends couldn't help him, because they're the ones who got him into this mess in the first place. He couldn't go to the Guys In White, because they're a 'secret government organization' and therefore have no public contacts. That left only one option... the Fentons.

Pushing down a sense of defeat, Wes dialed their home number, and waited until the person he wanted to hear least picked up.

"Hey _Wes_ ," Danny said through the phone, "how's it going with your new _very bestest friend_ for life? Well, technically afterlife, but you know what I mean."

Wes grit his teeth, "How'd you know it was me calling?"

"Caller ID," replied the ghost boy. "Ever since that time you texted me in class, I added your number to the home phone. Anyway... whatchu doing? Are you guys braiding each other's hair yet?"

"Go to hell."

"I kinda tried that, but I screwed up so now I'm just half-dead." Wes could imagine Danny shrugging as he spoke. "So... why're you calling? You never said."

"I was calling your parents."

"Oh... I get it now. You were gonna beg them to send Klemper back to the Ghost Zone."

"Not really. I was gonna ask them to kill the sumbitch."

"That'd be a little redundant, don't you think?" Danny laughed. "Anyway, Mom's cooking spaghetti tonight, so I gotta go. Bye, stalker – I mean, Wes."

"You-" Danny hung up.

Wes set down the phone and noticed Klemper staring at him with wide eyes. He groaned, "What now?"

"You said some very mean things on the talking device. I haven't heard that many mean words since Johnny kissed Ember in front of Kitty." Klemper hesitated. "Is my bestie alright?"

"Yeah," Wes said, slightly confused about the Johnny comment. "I was just talking to this complete _asshole_ who ruined my life. Nothing new."

"Who is this – um, butthole?" Klemper consoled Wes.

" _Phantom_."

"The ghost-boy?"

"The one and only," Wes sighed.

Klemper's usual laid-back expression stiffened, "I try to make the ghost boy my friend, but no matter how much I fight him he never wants to be my friend. It makes me upset."

And that was how Wes and Klemper ended up in a friendly discussion about how frustrating Danny could be. The two of them talked for at least three hours, until Wes finally fell asleep in his computer chair. The boy might not remember it in the morning, but Klemper picked him up, and phased him into his bed. After all, what else are ghost besties for?

* * *

 ** _Ghost Besties_ , a book by Tucker Foley**


	15. Casper High's Snow Day

Chapter Fourteen: Casper High's Snow Day

* * *

Wes woke up soaking wet in his own bed. _That's weird, I stopped wetting the bed two years ago,_ he thought. Then, the events of the night before came rushing back to him – how Danny had set an obsessive ghost desperate for friendship on him. Wes shot up in his bed, and glanced around the room. He grinned to himself, Klemper was nowhere to be found! The stupid ghost must've left sometime after he fell asleep. _Yes! Wes was free!_

"What's wrong, friend?"

Wes's heart almost jumped out of his chest. The green-skinned specter had appeared inches away from his own face, sporting a nauseous, buck-toothed grin. Wes let out a small yelp at the close proximity and backed up against his headboard. He had to take a few deep breaths before his heart returned to a normal pace.

"You're still here," Wes wheezed. " _Great_."

"Good morning _bestie_! Did you have good dreams? I did!" before Wes could think to say anything else, Klemper started telling Wes all about his dream. "The two of us were giving the Lunch Lady a makeover and Skulker baked us ecto-cookies and then the halfa showed up and we beat him with a pinata stick and he exploded into a bunch of candy and we ate the candy, which is sad, but then-"

Wes's brain was too tired to process half of what Klemper was saying, "What the actual _fuck_ are you talking about?" Klemper continued rambling.

"-the other halfa showed up and we rode roller coasters together until the roller coasters became fire and it was really hot, so I made it snow to get rid of the fire, and I might've accidentally made it snow in your room too – isn't that great!?"

"No," Wes said irritated. "I didn't know ghosts could sleep. But at least now I know why my bed's suddenly a waterbed.

"Oh yeah, I can't sleep – ghosts have something else called dormancy. I don't know how to explain it."

Wes suddenly wondered if Danny actually slept or if he was 'dormant' like Klemper. Wes doubted it – he fell asleep way too many times in class for that to be the case. Maybe if he found any ghosts that slept like humans, that was how he could distinguish real ghosts from hybrids (or halfas, as Klemper had informed him they were called). _Wait_ – hadn't Klemper just said something about another halfa a minute ago? Even though Klemper was annoying as hell (don't get him wrong, he was still going to get rid of the bastard as soon as possible), maybe he could provide Wes with the information he was looking for.

"Klemper," Wes turned to the ghost, putting on his best 'friendly face' (it burned him on the inside to do this), "did you say that there was another half-ghost?"

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "Plasmius. The first halfa before Phantom. He's kinda mean. One time, I went to his lab to surprise him because it was the seven month anniversary of when I hugged him, and he told me that he'd never be my friend and then threw me into the Ghost Zone. And it just – it just really stung my – _my FEELINGS_..."

Klemper started crying again, and snow and wind immediately started tearing Wes's room apart. Wes wanted to find out more information about Plasmius, but he knew that it was impossible to get anything useful out of Klemper in this state. After a few minutes, he managed to calm him down, but by then he had accidentally glanced at the time.

There were only five minutes left before class started and Wes lived in Elmerton. Basically, he was screwed.

Wes immediately started scrambling around his wet, torn up room looking for his things. Since Klemper was still hanging around, he figured that he would just wear the same clothes he slept in because he did not feel like changing in front of him. After lacing up his shoes, Wes found his backpack stuck to the door with some green goo. Sparing himself time by not questioning it, he ripped it off the door and ran out of the room. Wes thought he was making pretty good time until he realized Klemper was floating along behind him, "Where are we going?"

Wes groaned, he didn't have time for this, " _I'm_ going to school, _you're_ staying here. I'll be back at 4." _And I'll probably have some ghost hunters with me to get rid of you,_ Wes thought.

"Okay," Klemper said, as he continued to float with Wes. "We'll be back here at 4."

" _No_ , you're staying here," Wes said, hoping to make him understand. "I'm the only one leaving, because _you_ can't come to school with me."

"Yes I can. I have to stay with my friend."

"I'm not your friend!" Wes snapped.

"You're right," Klemper said, "you're my _bestie_!"

Wes screamed. "And you're a pain in the ass! You are fucking staying!"

Klemper whimpered, " _Mean words_."

 _Mean words..._ maybe Wes could scare him off with profanity. He smiled before jumping into a tirade of cuss words, "Bitch! Shit! Cunt! Dick! Kiss my ass, motherfucker! Fuckity fuck fuck fuck! _Is that mean enough for you_?"

Klemper's face was too broken to cry, "STOP IT!"

Wes stamped his foot into the floor, "FUCK YOU!"

To Wes's surprise, Klemper disappeared in a puff of blue. Feeling a cold sense of victory, Wes laughed. He honestly hadn't expected that to work, and now that stupid ghost was finally gone! Not bothering to check if Klemper was still lingering around, Wes ran out the door of his apartment and started sprinting to school.

* * *

About halfway on his way to school, the air around Wes got really cold. He spun around, but nothing was there. He went to take another step, and a voice called out above him, "Bestie, you don't have to walk. I can fly you to where you want to go."

For a second, Wes saw a horrifying vision of Klemper carrying him bridal style. Once again, he screamed.

* * *

Mr. Lancer was used to a number of strange things happening in Casper High. He had grown used to things like meat from the teacher's lounge mysteriously disappearing, mass property damage out of nowhere, vanishing school counselors and exchange students, a ghost superhero frequenting the school, the occasional possessed student, a viral disease sweeping the student body in a day, ghost invasions, his own doppelgänger, a haunted summer camp, and Daniel Fenton and his friends constantly running to God knows where, but this... this was a new one.

Never before had a ghost followed one of his students to school and started harmlessly floating around his classroom.

"Weston!" he called, looking at the distressed boy's worried face, "What is happening?"

The rest of the class was eerily calm, and some boys had started throwing erasers at the ghost. The erasers harmlessly fell through the green and pink specter who didn't seem to care that he was being used as a moving target. Others had seen the distraction as an opportunity to get out their phones and were recklessly attempting to hide them under their desks, but Lancer noticed anyway. There were three particular students... that seemed to have a peculiar reaction to the thing flying around the room. Daniel Fenton, Samantha Manson, and Tucker Foley were grinning ear-to-ear as if the sight of the ghost was some kind of twisted inside joke – which confused Lancer because he had always assumed the three of them were terrified of ghosts.

"He won't leave," Wes hissed. "I tried _everything_."

"Why is he – uh – following you anyway?"

Weston mumbled something under his breath that suspiciously sounded like "Fenton's fault", but Lancer knew he must've heard wrong.

"What was that, Weston?" Lancer questioned.

"I uh – ticked off Phantom yesterday, so he told that ghost to bother me," Wes blurted.

Lancer was dumbstruck. _Phantom_ , Amity's ghost fighting _hero_ , told another ghost to follow Wes, because Wes had somehow 'ticked him off'. Lancer was afraid to ask what Wes had even done, so he didn't.

"That explains why Phantom hasn't shown up yet," Lancer muttered.

"Wes, what are you talking about?" Valerie Grey poked Wes in the arm.

A look of panic crossed Wes's face for a moment, before he started sputtering, "Uh – well, it's hard – uh – to explain – uh, Val."

"Yeah, what the hell'd you do that made Phantom pin this idiot on you?" Dash asked Wes. "I'm guessing it had something to do with your little _theory_."

"It's not a theory, it's real!" Wes yelled.

Lancer was confused by the exchange between his students, and he seemed to be the only one out of the loop. Almost everyone in the room spared a laugh at Wes's outburst.

"Wes," Valerie said carefully, "what did I tell you yesterday?"

Wes ignored her, "I can prove it this time!" he stood up from his seat and addressed the ghost, "Klemper, tell them about the halfa!"

The ghost looked like it was about to say something, when a look of fear crossed it's face. Lancer noted it's eyes were locked on someone behind him. He turned to his right and saw that the ghost was looking at Daniel, Samantha, and Tucker who were sitting alone.

"I – um, I'm sorry I don't know what you're talking about." Additionally, Klemper lowered his voice to where nobody but Danny could possibly hear it. "I'm loyal to my friend, and his secret."

Dash chortled with laughter, "Crazy Wes Phantom, talking to his wittle ghost friends."

"You take that back!" Wes said. "Think about it, if Fenton really is a ghost, then of course Klemper would be scared to admit it, because that would mean that Fenton could kick his ass!"

Fenton looked at Wes, "Dude, I can't even kick a ball in gym."

Lancer was momentarily lost. What was Wes talking about Fenton being a ghost? That made as much sense as saying that Dash was a straight A student who did all of his homework by himself (Lancer wasn't as clueless as he let on, he just let Dash get away with it because he couldn't get any proof).

"Weston, may I ask, what are you ranting about? What do you mean 'if Fenton is really a ghost'?"

"Wes has this crazy idea that Danny is secretly Danny Phantom because they have the same name," Samantha said. "As his best friend, I _totally_ verify it because it's so freaking logical that he just magically dies and turns into a ghost and then comes back to life when he feels like it. And I mean, his ghost hunting parents wouldn't notice _at all_ that their son is the same kind of creature they hunt, not to mention the town's superhero."

"Shh, Sam," Daniel said jokingly, "you're not supposed to tell anybody."

Lancer was horrified when the two of them laughed. Wes looked over at them with an accusing glare, and Lancer was finally starting to understand some of the weird shit that Wes had been getting himself into in the past two months. Numbly, he sank back into his seat and called it a free period. He'd be lying if he said that he wasn't disturbed by Wes's far-fetched delusions. There was clearly something different about Daniel Fenton, but if Lancer knew anything, it was that Danny couldn't be a ghost because he was simply just too... _alive_.

* * *

Fast forward to third period, and Klemper was still stuck to Wes like glue. Unlike Mr. Lancer, who just tolerated the ghost – Mrs. Rosenbalm was having none of it. She finally snapped when Klemper ruined her Declaration of Independence poster by covering it ice and when he threw her stapler at Mikey for a 'friendly game of catch'. If Danny Fenton hadn't tripped and knocked Mikey's desk to the side, it would have hit him straight in the head. A blow like that would leave serious bruises, possibly even resulting in a concussion.

"Fenton," Mrs. Rosenbalm said, gripping her pencil as if she was about to snap it in half, "what's your parents' phone number, I need to call them."

"Uh..." Danny said, nervously, "why _my_ parents' number? I didn't do anything wrong this time!"

Mrs. Rosenbalm sighed, "Nobody did anything wrong, expect for that stupid thing in the corner." The class looked at Klemper who was playing experimentally with one of the ceiling tiles in the corner. "Since someone provoked Phantom-"

"Oh sure, blame me," Wes rolled his eyes. "It's his fault for being so childish."

"-it's about time we call some professional ghost hunters. And aside from the Red Huntress, your parents are the only option."

"Oh..." Danny said. "That makes sense." He recited the number from memory and Mrs. Rosenbalm walked into her office to make the call.

"We'd be able to get rid of it quicker if _somebody_ would stop being so freaking cocky for once," Wes spat at Danny.

Making sure that everyone else was out of earshot, he replied with a smug smile, "What do you mean cocky? I'm protecting Klemper; it would break his heart if I had to separate him from his bestie, Westie."

Wes growled, and looked Danny dead (no pun intended) in the eye, "You think you're so damn better everyone else just because you have _stupid little powers_ , but one of these days I'm going to make sure that everyone here knows your secret and when that day comes-"

"THE CEILING IS BROKEN!" Almost everyone in the room jumped out of their seats at Klemper's random exclamation. He was holding up a ceiling tile and staring at it in amazement.

"Klemper, put the tile back in the ceiling!" Wes yelled at him, pissed from being interrupted from his threatening speech.

"Okay!" Klemper said, accidentally screaming in Kwan's ear. Kwan winced and sent Wes a menacing glare. Wes chose to ignore it, and turned back to where Danny was watching him with amused eyes.

"See," Danny said, "you guys get along great! I knew what I was doing, introducing you two."

Wes's demeanor hardened, "Well it doesn't matter. He's about to be sucked up like a vacuum by your parents any minute."

"Huh?" Danny asked. "My parents? Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell Mrs. Rosenbalm but they won't be here for a while. Right now they should be out shopping for Thanksgiving tomorrow and neither of them have cell phones. It's around 9:30 so they probably just left the house, and knowing how long my Dad likes to shop for food... it could be another two to four hours before they even get back to the house."

Wes stared at the wall blankly... two to four more hours with Klemper? _Oh God,_ he was going to die.

"Hello, Wes?" Danny waved his hand in front of his face. "Anyone in there?"

"Fuck you, Fenton."

"I love you too, Wes."

* * *

If there was a bright side to having an otherworldly stalker with snow powers, it was the instant popularity Wes received by treating the entire cafeteria with free snow cones. It was kind of his apology for dragging a ghost in the school and disrupting all of his classes. Surprisingly, Danny scarfed down three cones by himself (he wasn't going to give any to Danny in the first place, but he used his intangibility to take some while Wes's back was turned).

"Dude, this is like your third cone," Tucker said to Danny. "Can't you just use your own ice powers and have snow cones all the time?"

"There's a difference between ice and snow powers, Tucker," Danny licked his snow cone. "I've tried to make snow cones, but they keep coming out as ice instead. I mean, I have the power to make snow I just don't know how to use it yet."

"What about shaved ice?" Tucker asked. "You could sell some during the summer and make a shit-ton of money off of it."

Danny shrugged, "Maybe."

Next was Wes's fifth period gym class, which he fortunately, _did not_ share with Danny. Tetslaff chose to be lazy today and had them play a game of volleyball. Unfortunately, Klemper kind of decided that he wanted to play too, so he started firing his own snowballs at the students. Eventually some of the students started to throw some of the leftover snow back at Klemper – and then all hell broke loose. Klemper covered the entire gym floor with snow and the room divided itself by athletes and nerds. Wes, being a basketball player, was naturally on the athlete side. Klemper however... decided to go against Wes and joined the nerds. With the addition of the super-powered snow ghost, the two teams were actually fairly matched and spent the whole period pulverizing each other with snowballs.

"This is it men," Dale said gravely, "the final battle. The one that decides who will be victorious – us jocks, or those shrimpy textbook weaklings. It's now or never, so grab your ammo and let's beat the shit out of some nerds and a lame ghost!"

The two teams fought it out until someone accidentally hit Tetslaff in the face with a snowball, so she made everyone run around the gym on the slick, wet floor. In other words, it was a draw.

Wes had almost forgotten about the Fenton's until Jack and Maddie came crashing in through the _second story window_ of his geometry class.

"WHERE'S THE GHOST?!" Jack bellowed. "I didn't get the wrong room again, did I?"

"No honey," Maddie told her husband, "this is the right room – see that putrid protoplasm unleashing havoc?" She held up her gun, and it whirred to life, "This should take care of it!"

"Wait!" said one of the boys from Wes's gym class. "He's not doing anything, he's just floating around and singing the Macarena."

The Fentons looked and saw Klemper slowly hovering in circles while humming.

Maddie's expression never wavered, "He's a threat to your safety and has to be neutralized." She shot the Fenton Bazooka, which created an artificial portal and pulled Klemper inside in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, for your help," said Ms. Merluzzi with uncharacteristic positivity. "We tried everything we could to get rid of him, but to no avail. Phantom wouldn't even help."

"HA!" Jack said triumphantly, "We were able to take down a ghost that Phantom couldn't! Take that, ghost-kid!"

"Well, we better leave now Jack," Maddie said, approaching the newly broken window. "You can bill us for the damage."

Jack followed his wife, but stopped at where Wes was sitting, "Y'know," Jack said, "you kind of remind me of that blasted ghost kid."

Wes looked back at Danny's father... _was this some kind of sick joke_? _I look like Phantom, when his son is the literal Phantom himself!_ Wes ground his teeth, "I get that a lot."

Jack laughed, "I can see why. You look just like him!"

Wes bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming when Jack turned around and smiled at Danny, "Oh, hey son, how's it going?"


	16. Don't Trust the Cinnamon Rolls

Chapter Fifteen: Don't Trust the Cinnamon Rolls

* * *

 **A special thanks to CartoonFreakshow (darklandsqueen on Tumblr) for creating the absolutely beautiful cover art for my book!**

* * *

If there was one thing Danny knew, it was that mornings were never pretty at Fenton Works. Especially when it was the first Monday back after Thanksgiving. For one, Danny had misplaced half of his school things and at this point there was only five minutes left until he had to be in Lancer's class. If he flew _really_ fast today, he could probably scrape by – if there wasn't some ghost ready to ambush him on his way to school like there was at least two days a week.

Danny scrambled down the stairs, backpack with his backpack on one arm and one of his shoes in the other. Somehow in the chaos, his backpack had come unzipped and about three textbooks fell out of his bag as he was running from his room to the kitchen. Backtracking, he grabbed all of them as quickly as possible before stumbling through the kitchen door (he was so frazzled he didn't have time to observe whether he opened the door before crashing through or just phased out of habit).

"Danny!" his father greeted, standing by the stove and wearing a stained apron, "You're just in time for breakfast! I've been messing around with the food again."

Danny gulped, his father was horrible at cooking. It didn't help much that he also liked to experiment with their meals, usually bringing it to life or making it fly around the house as it shot lasers. That's why Danny's Mom did most of the cooking in the house – she was much more _practical_. It was not a good sign that his dad was back behind the stove.

"Uh, I'd love to stay and sit Dad, but I'm kind of running late and I was planning on just eating a pop-tart."

"Nonsense!" Jack said, "No son of mine is going to start the day with just a pop-tart. Besides, don't tell your mother, but you can be a few minutes late for _one_ day." Little did his Dad know that he was late nearly every day. "I'll plate you up some homemade Fenton cinnamon rolls!"

That piqued Danny's interest, "Cinnamon rolls?"

"Yep! It's a new recipe I'm trying." he put a plate in front of Danny. "You can tell me if it's good or not."

Danny eyed the pastry in front of him suspiciously. Usually he didn't trust any food that his Dad had any part in making, but the plate in front of him seemed overall harmless. It wasn't glowing or shooting lasers at his face, so that was always good. Danny relaxed for a moment and within a minute he had cleared his plate.

"So was it good?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Danny said, attempting to hide the surprise in his voice, "it was actually pretty good."

"Great!" Jack exclaimed, accidentally throwing his fist down on the table and breaking Danny's empty plate. "It took me a while to get the recipe right, especially with the new compound I'm testing."

Danny's breath hitched. "What do you mean compound?" Then it dawned on him the type of thing his dad might be testing. He looked to Jack frantically, "Did you put some kind of _ghost chemical_ in my food?"

"Well, you could call it's that," Jack shrugged. "It's a new solution that I'm testing that's supposed to increase the viscosity of ectoplasm."

Danny suddenly felt terrified. He had to get this stuff out of his system immediately. He was literally half ectoplasm, so changing the viscosity of it was bound to have disastrous results.

He grabbed his backpack, and started to head out the door, "Well thanks for the food Dad, I'm gonna be late, bye!"

Danny ran out of Fenton Works as fast as he could, and came to a stop in the alley where he normally transformed in. He threw his backpack to the side and rolled up his jacket sleeves, _this was going to be so gross_. He put his hand in his mouth and attempted to trigger his gag reflex, but to no avail. No matter how much Danny tried, he just wouldn't throw up. Sighing, he picked his backpack off the ground so he could get to school before the end of homeroom. He transformed and hoped that his skin didn't end up glowing green by the end of the day or something equally embarrassing.

* * *

Wes's Thanksgiving had been absolute _hell_. It was the third year in a row where Walter had invited Vlad over to their apartment to eat turkey together. Wes always tried to convince his Dad that he was more comfortable when it was just the two of them, but Walter insisted that it was the least they could do since Vlad had no immediate family left and it would be rude to let him spend the holiday alone. The entire ordeal was incredibly awkward (from Wes's perspective anyway), but there weren't really notable problems other than the fact that Vlad wouldn't stop calling him Wesley. The only good thing about it was that Vlad brought his own desserts, and Wes almost died at the sight of pumpkin crème brulee made by Vlad's personal chefs. At least evil people had good taste.

So on Monday, Wes was back to school as normal and resumed his regular gig of trying to expose Danny. No matter what anyone might try to tell him, the whole Klemper thing _was not_ a setback. If anything, it made Wes more determined to take action.

As usual, Danny walked into first period long after the tardy bell. Today Mr. Lancer wasn't feeling especially lenient, so he issued Danny another detention. _Same old, same old._ He took his seat by Sam and Tucker, and immediately started whispering something to them. Wes tried to listen in, but he was too far away. Instead, he found himself watching Danny's facial expressions which seemed to range from distressed to downright scared. If there was one thing for sure, it was that something had happened, and that was something Wes could work with. If Danny was afraid of something happening, that was an opportunity for Wes to get proof.

Wes kept a close eye on Danny for the entirety of Mr. Lancer's class. But unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened. In between second and third period, Wes lingered around where Danny, Sam, and Tucker were discreetly having a conversation among themselves. He managed to hear a good bit of what they were talking about without being noticed.

"-nothing may even happen, Danny," Sam said reassuringly. "You could be stressing yourself out over nothing."

"I'm not so sure. You guys know how freaky my anatomy is already, so there's no telling what this ghost chemical my dad made will do to me! It could be killing me from the inside right now!"

"Didn't you say that it's supposed to increase the thickness of ectoplasm?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, well that's what my dad said it's supposed to do."

"Well, hypothetically wouldn't that make your human side more ghost like?" Sam suggested.

"Maybe, I don't know!" Danny waved his hands frantically.

"Danny," Sam said slowly, "you know your eyes are glowing right now, right?"

"I – uh-" Danny squinted his eyes shut, then opened them. "Are they normal again?"

"Nope," Tucker said. "Still green."

Danny tried again, but his eyes still continued to glow like Phantom's. "Do you think it's the stuff I ate doing it?"

"I don't see what else it could be, unless losing control over your powers today is a complete coincidence," Sam deadpanned.

" _Great_. What now?" Danny groaned. "Am I supposed to go to class like this?"

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice," Sam replied.

"Hey, maybe no one will notice," Tucker offered. "I mean, it's just your eyes right now."

"I think you just jinxed it, Tuck," Danny said, before walking off to his next class.

Wes grinned. This was the exact kind of opening he was hoping for. Since Danny didn't currently have control over his powers, all he had to do was catch him in the act!

Once he was in history class, Wes sat directly beside Danny. He subtly propped up his history book, and hid his camera behind it. Taking out a scrap of paper, Wes wrote out, **'Nice eyes, Fenton'** and threw it at Danny.

Danny caught it in midair and read it over. Scowling, he clutched the piece of paper in his fist before discreetly burning it with a burst of ecto-energy. Wes only smirked in response.

As history class dragged on, Wes kept looking over at Danny. He began to notice that he wasn't really having trouble with his powers, but more with his appearance. Some of the hairs at the back of Danny's head were starting to turn stark white. It was like Danny's human form was slowly transforming in Phantom. Danny hadn't noticed yet, Sam was on the opposite side of him, and Tucker was in a different class.

Wes slowly moved his arm and pulled out his camera. Making sure that no one was looking, he snapped a picture of Danny. What Wes hadn't considered, was the shutter and flash of the camera going off. The light filled the entire classroom, drawing attention to where Wes stood red-handed with his Polaroid in hand.

"Weston," snapped Mrs. Rosenbalm. "Why are you taking pictures in _my_ _classroom_ , while _I'm_ teaching, when there is a strict rule about no technology in this class?"

Too baffled to come up with a response, that's how Wes's camera got confiscated.

* * *

Fortunately, Wes had a back-up camera in his locker. It wasn't as good quality as the other one, but it would have to work for the moment. Danny had finally figured out what was wrong with his hair, and had borrowed Tucker's beret to try and hide it. He looked like a complete retard, but it worked for the most part.

To nobody's surprise, none of the other students had noticed that there was anything wrong with Danny yet. There was a sickening frustration in Wes that wondered how the hell some of them were honor students when they couldn't even figure out that Danny Fenton was Danny fucking Phantom.

During lunch, Justin noticed Wes's obvious agitation. "So what's up with the Weston soap opera today?"

"Fenton," Wes hissed.

"What a surprise," Justin rolled his eyes.

"His fucking eyes are glowing green today, and nobody even _looks_ at him! _What the hell_?! If that doesn't scream 'ghost', I don't know what will!"

"GHOST!" someone screamed as Phantom crashed into the cafeteria wrestling a ghost tiger. Wes groaned and continued to eat his sandwich as everyone else evacuated.

"Can we wrap this up Fenton?!" Wes called. "I sorta want to eat my lunch without things flying at my head."

Danny punched the tiger right in the gut, "Working... on it... asshole."

Within half a minute, the ghost was contained in the Fenton Thermos, and Danny floated back to the floor and let the rings surround him. Instead of fully transforming, only his clothes changed back. That left a very frustrated white-haired, green eyed boy in Danny Fenton's normal white and red t-shirt and jeans. He groaned, "At least I can do that much."

 _SNAP!_

The sound of a camera going off reverberated throughout the empty cafeteria. Danny had forgotten about Wes being in the room with him. _Shit_. He'd just gotten a picture of Phantom in Fenton's clothing. In the few seconds Danny spent processing what had just happened, Wes had already made it outside the cafeteria doors. Danny was about to go into a full panic mode, when Sam dragged Wes back into the room and locked the door behind her.

"Give me the camera, _now_!" she demanded.

"No way in hell," Wes replied. "I finally got my proof, and there's no way you're taking it away from me."

"Wanna bet?" Sam growled. Drawing her foot back, she kicked Wes straight in the balls with her steel toed boots. He let out an undignified yelp before crumpling to the floor. Sam crouched down and frisked his pockets until she found his camera. She threw it to the floor and probably kicked it a good fifteen times before she was satisfied. Danny was pretty sure he heard Wes mutter the words "demon" a few times while she unleashed her rage.

When she had finally calmed down, Sam pulled out a black beanie from her spider backpack and gave it to Danny, "Here's for your hair."

He put it over his head and smiled, "Thanks, Sam. You're a life saver."

"Don't worry about it," she said, "besides you actually look really good in that beanie."

"You'd probably look better in it. Black's your color, not mine."

"Says the boy who flies around in a black jumpsuit all the time," Sam deadpanned.

"Well... you got me there." The two of them laughed.

"Stop... flirting..." Wes called from the floor. "It's making me... sick."

"Then stop being a dramatic little shit," Sam said, "that's Danny's job."

"Hey!" Danny protested.

"And for the record, we weren't flirting," Sam said. She tried to drag Danny with her, out of the cafeteria, but Danny intangibly slipped out of her grasp.

"What're you doing?" she asked.

Ignoring her, Danny walked towards Wes. On instinct, Wes flinched back, afraid that Danny was going to take his turn beating the shit out of him, but instead, the ghost-boy offered a hand towards Wes. It took him a moment to realize what Danny was doing and it didn't make sense to Wes. Why would Danny help him up?

"Are you just going to lay there?" Danny asked.

Cautiously, Wes accepted his hand and Danny used some of his strength to pull him up. Wes still felt a little weak from the groin kick, but managed to remain standing.

Without another word, Danny turned his back on Wes and left him alone, opting to walk away with Sam.

After they walked out of earshot, Sam said, "He didn't deserve your help. You didn't have to do that."

Danny looked at her. "Yeah, I did."

* * *

"Mikey, are you sure about this?" Lester said, "I mean, it's kind of controversial – what if we get in trouble?"

"Please," Mikey said, "I've already pitched it to some of the A-Listers, and they're definitely interested. And I doubt anybody's gonna get offended. This is _Amity Park_ we're talking about."

"That's true, but what if it's a waste of time? What if none of them sell?"

"Paulina's already ordered two," Nathan said, reading from a clipboard. "Pretty much all the girls follow her lead when it comes to trends, no matter how vulgar or ridiculous."

"See," Mikey smiled, "we have _nothing_ to worry about."

"What if Phantom gets upset?" Lester asked. "What do we do then?"

"I don't see why he'd get upset," Nathan said. "I mean, we're basically complimenting him."

"Who even came up with it?" Lester wondered. "Where did 'It's not gay if he's dead' even _come from_?"

Mikey shrugged, "Probably the Internet."


	17. The Wrong Perpetrator

Chapter Sixteen: The Wrong Perpetrator

* * *

 **It's Not Gay if He's Dead**

If there was one thing that Danny and Wes could agree on, it was that those fucking t-shirts were _awful_. And what was worse, is that they were _everywhere_.

It began around Wednesday when Paulina, Dash, Kwan, Star, Mikey, Lester, and Nathan walked into Casper High wearing identical black t-shirts with the Danny Phantom logo and caption 'it's not gay if he's dead'.

"Isn't it great?" Paulina asked her entourage of girls. "The geeks are mass producing them and selling them for $8 per shirt! I bought five: one for a crop-top, I cut one up for a bandanna (they're _in_ right now, okay?), two to wear, and one back up. Eventually I might try to tie-dye it, but I'd probably only be able to do the white print..."

During lunch, Mikey, Lester, and Nathan set up a booth in the courtyard where they had swarms upon swarms of students trying to buy their own shirt. It was chaos that Pariah himself would be proud of. Normally the teachers would be doing something to control the mayhem, but many had learned after the Ember incident that it was pointless.

"It's not gay if he's dead, Ryan," said a girl, sporting her new t-shirt. "I can fuck a ghost if I want!"

"Y'all are nasty," said another girl. "So what? Phantom's hot, but it's still necrophilia."

"YOU'RE NECROPHILIA, AMANDA!" someone screamed back.

The girl yelled in response, "THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!"

Ignoring the obscene screaming match in the courtyard, Jazz Fenton stood in the mob of students to buy a t-shirt. She had seen a few kids wearing some already, and had attested the origin of the shirts to either Danny or Tucker, it seemed like something up their alley, after all. She thought it was best to get one as future blackmail before they all ran out, so she left a ten-dollar bill and decked. After a few minutes of searching, she finally found Danny asleep against a wall while holding a partially eaten peanut-butter sandwich. She smiled, it was cute how oblivious he looked to the world.

She took a seat next to him, and his eyes immediately shot open. "Wha – Jazz?"

"Lunch's almost over," she informed him.

"It's lunch?" he asked. She looked at him expectantly, eyes flicking between him and the peanut-butter sandwich. "Oh, right, it's lunch," he laughed. "I guess I kinda lost track of time. I've been running on like three 5-hour Energy drinks. Not to mention, I missed my first two classes and just got back from fighting Ember."

"Well, sure looks like it," she ruffled his already disheveled hair.

"Stop that," he told her stubbornly, fixing his hair.

The two sat in silence for a moment as Danny finished his sandwich. Finally, Jazz pulled out her new t-shirt, "So I've been meaning to ask. Did you approve of this? It seemed like one of your jokes, so..."

Danny, who was still slightly asleep, looked at the black t-shirt in his sister's hands. ' _It's not gay if he's dead'_. He had to read it twice over before it sunk in _what_ it implied and _who_ it was about. And then suddenly, Danny was awake.

"What... the _fuck_? Jazz wh – what – where did you get that?" _What the hell is that?_

Jazz cringed, "You haven't seen it yet, have you?"

"Seen what?" he asked. "Jazz, I haven't been able to focus on anything other than ghosts and sleep today."

Jazz sighed, she had really expected him to have known something about this already. Hell, she'd expected him to be the one behind it. "The entire school is wearing this shirt right now. They went on sale at the beginning of the lunch block, and almost everyone bought one. I bought one because I thought it was another one of your jokes... but..."

"Why the fuck would I make a shirt telling people that it's okay to screw me because I'm a ghost? I'm not dead! Well, mostly. It's still gay, still very, _very_ gay. It's gross just to think about!" he paused, "Who made these?"

"I don't-"

" _Jazz_ ," he repeated, "who made these?"

Jazz wracked her mind, trying to remember who it was that was selling the shirts. She remembered his face, but couldn't recall the name. "It was some red-headed boy in your grade. I don't know his name though."

At those words, Jazz recoiled at the sudden recognition that burned in Danny's eyes. He clenched his fists, " _Wes_. It's got to be Wes."

Jazz knew who Wes was, and it definitely wasn't him. "Danny I don't think-"

Danny ignored her, "I'm gonna go give that asshole a piece of my mind." He stood up, and made sure the coast was clear before he went ghost. Within seconds, he lifted off the ground.

Jazz knew she had to stop him from creating a horrible misunderstanding, "Danny wait-"

"Jazz, I won't do anything too rash, you have my word. Maybe just scare him a little..."

She hopelessly called out to him, "But it's not..." Danny had already flown off, "-Wes. It's not Wes."

* * *

Wes was about to die. They were everywhere, _everywhere_. They swarmed around him, taunting him. The ignorance of the surrounding population was overwhelming; he couldn't take this. He felt like he was drowning in the futility of the human race. He had to remind himself: it was just some twisted joke. A very disgusting joke, a 'joke' that tempted him to take a few shots of bleach.

Wes struggled to hold onto his control. He just couldn't grasp why they were unable to understand! _It_ is _gay if he's dead._ Really, really gay. They might as well all be wearing shirts that say 'HOMO' in giant red letters.

"Are you okay, Wes?" Justin questioned his friend. The two of them were standing alone in the gym. Wes was possessively holding a basketball while convulsing. "You're – uh – sorta shaking right now."

Wes hissed, "I'm going to kill him."

"Kill who?" Justin asked, "Lemme guess, Fenton? I don't see how'd you kill him, since according to you he's dead or something."

"Not Fenton... right now," Wes said. "Mikey Hobaken. He's the one who started making and selling the shirts. He's the one who gets all the money out of this-"

"Actually I think the nerds are sharing profits-"

"He's the one who gets the final laugh," Wes looked towards Justin. "Mikey's the evil mastermind," he finished.

"I'm just going to pretend you never said that," Justin groaned. "Remind me again why I'm still hanging out with you, especially through all your conspiracy theory shit."

"Is it really a conspiracy if it's true?" Wes countered.

"Yeah," Justin said sarcastically, "because I'm sure that the weakest kid in school secretly lives some kind of double life as a ghost."

"He's literally turned into a ghost in front of me. _Multiple_ times," Wes added.

"Until I see it with my own eyes," Justin says, "it's a conspiracy."

At those words, the temperature in the gym dropped a noticeable ten degrees, and the lights dimmed. Justin shivered, and Wes's grip on his basketball loosened as a pair of glowing green eyes materialized directly in front of him. Phantom leaned forward and grabbed Wes by the shirt collar, controlled rage evident in his expression, "We need to talk."

Seemingly oblivious to the pissed ghost in front of him, Wes threw a smirk at Justin, "Is this conspiracy enough for you?"

Without a moments warning, Danny pulled Wes off the floor and phased the two of them through a wall, leaving Justin alone with Wes's abandoned basketball. He scanned the gym, looking for signs that his eyes had deceived him. Though he found none, he was trapped in denial that whatever just happened had happened.

"Wes?" Justin called out apprehensively. "Dude, this isn't funny. If this is payback for me not believing you..."

When Wes didn't answer, Justin took one more look at the wall his friend had just been pulled through, "Shit."

* * *

Danny flew Wes to the food storage room, knowing that nobody ever went down there with the expectation of the occasional cafeteria lady. It was better that they were somewhere out of the way, it would prevent a lot of questions being asked by surrounding ears. Danny let go of Wes, and hovered to where he was a good two inches above the red-head.

"What the fuck did you do, Weston?" he finally said.

Wes looked at him with an unaffected stare; his accusation hadn't fazed him in the slightest. "I don't know," he shrugged. "What do you think I did?"

Wes was actually clueless this time. There could be a number of reasons Danny could be pissed at him, after all his main hobby was coming up with new ways to expose him. Hopefully he hadn't found out about his plans to rig a camera in his room, that would be awkward.

Under the impression that Wes was playing dumb, Danny allowed his eyes to glow brighter in irritation, "Are you kidding me? I'm not an idiot. I know that it was you."

Wes was silent for a moment, trying to think which of his plans Danny might've found out about. "What's me?"

"Stop pretending like you don't know! 'It's not gay if I'm dead'!"

Wes's entire demeanor changed instantly, "You think that _I_ came up with that? No – just ew! I can't believe you would think I'd be that disgusting."

"But-"

Wes cut Danny off, continuing his rant, "It's just so fucking sick! And everyone's in on it!Literally everyone, _everyone_. I had to pull my best friend away from buying one of those stupid shirts! It's a trap, an evil plot! I feel violated, the human race has resorted to the lowest of the low ignorance! It's not that gay shit that even bothers me, I mean I'm pretty sure my own Dad is at least bi, and I can accept that. I just can't take the fact that nobody realizes what those shirts actually mean! They all want to fuck _you_ , and it's just... just-"

Wes screamed in frustration.

Once Wes had calmed down a notch, Danny backtracked, "So... you didn't make those shirts?"

"Of course I fucking did," Wes rolled his eyes, "because apparently I'm some kind of self-fulfilling hypocrite."

"So if you didn't make them," Danny questioned, "who did?"

"Have you even talked to anyone today?" Wes gave a humorless laugh, "It's Mikey and his little gang of nerds. They were selling them outside the cafeteria earlier."

"Mikey? Then why did Jazz say..." Danny froze. Jazz hadn't said it was Wes, she had said it was a red-haired boy. Mikey was also a red-head. "Oh."

"Danny?" Wes waved his hand in front of the ghost boy's face. "Are you there?"

"Oh, yeah," Danny said. "Sorry for jumping to conclusions, someone told me that you made those damn shirts."

Wes smirked, this was a good opportunity to get under Danny's skin. "Y'know if you just told everyone your secret people would stop wearing them?"

"Fat chance," Danny said. "I'm not going to lose my secret over this."

"Then how you would like your secret to be revealed?" Wes asked. "I'm in my planning period right now, so a little input wouldn't hurt."

"You realize that your reputation is so crippled that there's nothing you can do for anyone to believe you," Danny said.

"Maybe," Wes shrugged. "But it still doesn't change the fact that everyone in Casper High is wearing a t-shirt that says it's okay to screw you."

"Do you want me to leave you down here?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

Wes snorted, "Yeah, right. You don't have the guts to."

Danny froze, remembering they were in a meat freezer. "Was that... was that a meat pun?"

The blood drained from Wes's face. "Oh, God. It was. Your cringe-worthy jokes are contagious."

Danny laughed. "It's almost like they haunt you, right?"

"You're the worst hybrid creature I've ever met," Wes said.

"Aw, how sweet. I'm already better than Plasmius," Danny said.

Wes looked at him strangely. "Who?" Was Danny implying there were other halfas?

"Uhh..." Danny said quickly, "he's another ghost. He's not a hybrid, like me, but he dresses like a vampire, so we joke that he's half vampire or something."

"That's weird," Wes deadpanned. He felt like there was something else unsaid in Danny's explanation, but he didn't really care.

Danny nodded. "You don't know the half of it."

"If that was another pun, I _swear_ Fenton-"

* * *

A week passed, and the 'Phantom trend' as students had started to call it, had failed to cease in popularity. Almost everyone wore the same shirt five days in a row. The only people who refused to convert to the cause was Sam Manson, Danny Fenton, and Wes Weston. Each of them arguably had their own reasons for not wearing the t-shirt.

"I refuse to give in to fascism and relinquish my own uniqueness and individuality in favor some stupid trend."

"I mean, my parents are ghost hunters. According to them, Phantom is just a bunch of rancid protoplasm that endangers the town. So there's _no way_ they'd allow me to wear one of those shirts."

"DANNY FENTON IS DANNY PHANTOM! HE'S A FUCKING GHOST!"

When the students of Casper High realized that pressuring the them into wearing the shirts was fruitless, they eased up. However, Dash still had it in him to bully Danny and Wes due to their stubborn refusal to go with the crowd.

Around the sixth day of the Phantom trend, Danny found that someone had stuffed one of the shirts into his locker. He threw the shirt in a nearby trashcan and stood next to Sam and Tucker.

"This is horrible!" he said to his friends.

"I know!" agreed Sam. "I knew I should've patented my logo!"

"What? Sam, no, that's not what I'm worried about."

She sighed, Danny had been fretting about it for the week. While it was understandable, it started getting old around the third day. "You can live with it," she said. "Or half live. Or I don't know just keep doing whatever the hell you're doing."

"But those shirts – it's just gross!" Danny said, pulling down on some of his hair.

"I think it's poetic," Tucker (who was currently wearing one of the shirts) chimed in.

"Tucker! Dude, just _no_."

Across the hallway, it was clear that someone had also put a shirt in Wes's locker. Unlike Danny, his reaction was more... brazen.

He held the shirt up in his hands and shouted, "Who the hell did this?"

While most people had learned to ignore Wes's untimely outbursts (seriously, was there a time of the day where he _wasn't_ screaming?), a number of students collectively laughed at him.

"That's it," Wes muttered. He marched across the hallway and pushed Danny forward, "PHANTOM ISN'T DEAD, HE'S BEEN RIGHT FUCKING HERE THE WHOLE TIME. YOU ARE ALL GAY FOR DANNY FENTON. YOU ARE ALL FUCKING IDIOTS!"

From his position in the center of attention, Danny sighed, "Wow, thanks for announcing that to everyone Wes. I'm just going to run into that corner and die the rest of the way."

It was quiet in the hallway for a painful minute as Danny, Sam, and Tucker stalked off to their next class. Finally Wes broke the uncomfortable silence, "You guys realize, he just admitted he was partially dead, right?"

Dash shrugged, "It's not gay if it's dead."

All hell broke loose... again.

* * *

 **Updates may be slowing down because I have to go to band camp (9am-9pm) next week, and start High School the week after that.**


	18. Starry Accusations

Chapter Seventeen: Starry Accusations

* * *

"This is getting ridiculous," Danny said. It'd been almost two weeks since the 'It's not gay if he's dead' shirts went on sale. He leaned against the lockers in defeat, observing the A-Listers as they chewed Mikey out for raising the prices on the shirts.

Someone sighed beside him. "Tell me about it."

Wes stood beside him, impassively glaring at the A-Listers. Dash was holding Mikey two feet above the floor and threatening to shove him in his locker if he didn't lower the prices of the shirts. "Serves him right," Wes muttered under his breath.

While Danny and Wes were still rivals or something (Danny wasn't really sure exactly what Wes thought of him as), they both understood each other's merciless hatred for the trend. Unlike the rest of the school, they still refused to surrender to the fad. _If only they knew the true reason..._

Before they knew it Dash had walked over to where Danny and Wes were standing with a pessimistic stance. Mikey could be heard in the distance screaming in his locker.

"Hey, Fentucky fried chicken, Phantom-"

"He's Phantom not me," Wes interjected.

"Whatever." Dash pretended to do a mock inspection of their clothes. "I see you two are still too poor to afford to get these shirts."

"Ha!" Kwan said. "I get it! They're poor, that's why they aren't wearing these shirts... it's kind of sad," he added seriously.

"Kwan, I literally just said that." Dash punched his friend in the shoulder. "Just shut up until I tell you to talk."

"Alright," Kwan said dejectedly.

"I can't believe you're calling them poor when you literally just shoved Mikey in a locker so he could lower the prices of your stupid shirts." Sam had appeared beside Danny and Wes. She could be as stealthy as Danny when he was invisible sometimes. "Kinda hypocritical if you ask me."

"Well nobody did ask you, goth freak!" Paulina hissed.

"Just stating the facts," she shrugged.

"And like you have _so_ much money," Star rolled her eyes. "That shirt probably cost more than your entire wardrobe."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Sam smirked as if it was some kind of inside joke.

"Whatever," Star scoffed.

"So, Fentoenail," Dash said to Danny, "are you really going to keep judging Phantom based off of your parents' opinion? I mean, it's clear the reason you won't wear the shirts is because you hate the guy – which is pretty shitty if you ask me."

"I don't hate him," Danny said defensively. "I just don't think he'd appreciate being thought of in _that_ way."

"Or it's because you're Phantom," Wes suggested.

"No one gives a shit, Weston," Dash, Star, and Sam said in unison.

"You know what," Paulina said suddenly, "I think I finally figured it out."

"Figured what out?" Danny asked apprehensively.

"You figured out that I was always right?" Wes asked hopefully.

"The reason that you and Weston don't love Phantom... is that you're in love with each other."

"WHAT!" Wes cried, and inkling of a blush visible on his face. "I'm the only boy in school who _doesn't_ want to bone Fenton!"

" _O_ -kay," Sam said, pushing Wes away, "that's enough from you." She lowered her voice, "Besides, even though it's true, it doesn't give you the right to be screaming it."

The bell rang, and the A-Listers started heading off towards their next classes. Assuming he was out of earshot, Danny groaned, "Why me?"

Star, who heard this, turned to him and shrugged. "It's not your fault that Weston is crazy. You just got unfortunate enough to be apart of his unhealthy ghost delusions."

He stared at her, " _Right_... crazy. Wes is totally bananas. Wacko."

Star raised an eyebrow, "Why do you seem like you're unsure about that? Wes being crazy, I mean."

"I – um, I'm not," he said weakly.

"Do you have a reason that Wes isn't crazy? That he's actually telling the truth."

"No, that's stupid. Wes can't – Wes _has_ to be crazy. I'm not a ghost."

"But what if it's a cover-up?" she asked, eyes narrowing. "What if you're leading people to think Wes is crazy, when he's actually telling the truth?"

"I don't know what you're talking-"

"What if everything he says about you is true?" Danny's heart raced at her next words, " _Are_ you Phantom, Danny? _Are_ you a ghost?"

He panicked, "Of course not! That's – that's-" he trailed off when he noticed that Star was laughing, hysterically. He looked at her strangely.

"I'm sorry," she wheezed, "I couldn't keep a straight face. I had you convinced, didn't I? We both know Wes is completely nuts, that humans can't be ghosts. I mean, your parents are ghost scientists after all! They'd be able to tell if you were dead."

He gave a feeble laugh, playing along. "I know right? None of it makes sense."

"Well," Star said suddenly, "I better get going Fenton. Pauli's probably wondering where I am."

She walked away quickly, leaving him alone. He breathed in relief. _That had been a close one. I thought she actually figured out my secret._

Star was actually smarter than she let on. She had managed to figure everything out, but couldn't believe it. It was pretty ironic looking back. Danny remembered some of the entries from Wes's journal about her, and could see now why he liked her so much. Yeah, she was pretty; that much was obvious. But even if she didn't show it most of the time, Star Evans was probably one of the most intelligent girls in Casper High.

* * *

"Wes," Justin said, "you're freaking me out again."

"What now?" he asked. "All I'm doing is standing here!"

"It's not that... it's the _shirt_ ," Justin said, leaning against the lockers, gesturing to Wes's outfit.

In opposition to the trend, Wes had made his own t-shirt to try to prove a point. It was white with bold black lettering, 'It IS gay if he's "dead"', complete with the faces of Danny Fenton and Phantom side by side. Wes looked at his shirt, "What's wrong with it? Did I get a stain...?"

"You know that's not what I meant, dumbass," Justin rolled his eyes. "If you keep wearing that, someone's gonna kick your ass."

"It's not like I'm a homophobe," Wes reassured. "That's why I put the disclaimer on the back of the shirt."

Wes turned around, and on the back of the shirt it read 'Being gay's fine, LGBT supporter'.

"Oh," Justin said sarcastically, "that changes _everything_."

"Danny!" he heard Sam yell somewhere down the hallway. "Where've you _been_?"

Wes immediately looked up, swinging his bag over his shoulder, ready to investigate Danny's latest crisis. He was about to run down the hall when Justin put a hand on his shoulder. The two of them shared a look for a moment. " _No_ ," Justin said firmly. "Wes... Wes! You're not doing this! Don't walk away from me!" But Wes was already gone.

Wes found Danny, Sam, and Tucker standing beside the boys bathroom, with Sam waving her arms and quietly screaming at Danny, "Why didn't you just text us?"

Wes took a second to truly look at Danny and decided that today, he really did look like shit. The most noticeable was the glowing green cut just above his cheek that looked like it had _just_ stopped bleeding (he assumed that it was blood). His clothes were drenched in green goo (that smelled almost like rotten-eggs) and some of it had even gotten in his hair. Looking at Sam, he clenched his teeth, "Well sorry, I didn't expect to be leading a _second_ prison break today. And it doesn't help that the warden still has my phone."

Wes honestly couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

Sam didn't waver for a moment, "What did Walker charge you on this time?"

Danny squinted his eyes shut, trying to remember, "I don't know... Unauthorized flying in private areas of the Ghost Zone or some other BS. Apparently I've wracked up like 7,000 years or something."

Tucker laughed, " _Brutal_."

"So you're some kind of ghost criminal or something?" Wes blurted out. The trio stared at him, noticing his presence for the first time.

"None of your business, Weston," Sam growled.

Tucker's eyes traveled over Wes's shirt. "Nice shirt," he said. "I think I may want to wear that one instead..."

"Tucker!" Danny protested. "Do you want to blow my secret?"

"I'm just here for the memes."

"Why am I friends with you?" Danny asked rhetorically.

"Because I'm smart and sexy and help you fight ghosts with my cutting edge technology?" he suggested.

"Or it's because no one else will tolerate you," Sam offered.

"Give or take," he admitted.

There were five seconds of silence before all three of them burst into laughter. Wes stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. Finally, once they had stopped laughing, Danny looked up at Wes, "Why are you still here?"

Wes shrugged. He didn't really have an answer. "I'm trying to prove you're Phantom."

"Oh," Danny said, not the least surprised, "well we have stuff to do. Bye."

He, Sam, and Tucker started walking in the opposite direction. Wes called after him, "Not so fast, ghost-boy!"

A few people glanced at his outburst, but went back to their conversations as usual. Danny didn't even turn around, "Okay, I'll walk moderately paced then."

Wes felt insulted for being simply brushed off like that. He slammed his fist on the lockers, "Why won't you just fess up!"

"Sorry, I can't hear you over your lack of solid proof," he said with a mocking tone, as if he sensed Wes's frustration.

"You're literally covered in ecto goo!"

Danny ran a hand through his green tinted hair. "It's called ecto _plasm._ " He scoffed, "Amateur."

* * *

Danny, Sam, and Tucker met after school at the Internet Cafe. It was the only place where they could really play Doom in the same room as each other.

"Y'know," Tucker said, pressing a few commands on the keyboard, "If I can beat you in this level, you have to wear the 'It's not gay if he's dead' shirt."

"Please," Danny smirked, "that's a piece of cake. There's _no way_ I can lose to _you_."

"No ghost powers," Tucker added.

"You're on. There's no way that I'm ever wearing that damn shirt."

Five minutes later, Sam had to find the Fenton Thermos to restrain Danny from blasting Tucker halfway across Amity Park.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD NEW CHEAT CODES?"

"Fair's fair, bro," Tucker said slyly, "all I said was no ghost powers."

"And now..." Sam grinned, "you have to wear-"

"No."

"- _the shirt_."

"Shit."

* * *

Danny walked into school the next day, hiding his face in shame. He held his arms over his chest, blocking the shirt. He felt gross. He might as well be wearing a matching shirt and tutu that says 'FUCK ME' in flashing LED lights. What was worse was how the A-Listers purposely drew attention to him. It wasn't fair, Danny _Fenton_ was supposed to be invisible. Why couldn't everyone just ignore him as usual?

"We've finally done it," Mikey wiped a fake tear. "You're one of us."

"Fuck off," he snapped.

"Maybe to Phantom," Mikey said.

Danny put his hand to his mouth. He suddenly felt the need to throw up.

Sam sighed, taking the lunch-seat next to him. "Stop being so over-dramatic. It's only one day."

"Oh yeah?" Danny said, " _You_ still won't wear one."

"Mainly out of respect for you," she crossed her arms, "and the fact that they stole my logo without permission."

Wes probably had the most vocal reaction to seeing Danny wear the shirt. Rather than getting angry, he used it as an excuse to go off on another rant.

"He's Danny Phantom! How are NONE of you seeing this?! Why don't you believe me?" his voiced reverberated throughout the noisy cafeteria.

Danny looked at him sincerely, "I believe you Wes."

Wes screamed in frustration, cracked his knuckles, and stormed out of the cafeteria like he had just been sent off of the set of _The Bachelor_.

Sam effortlessly stabbed at her salad, "Do you guys ever wonder what he would actually do if someone _did_ figure it out?"

"Who knows?" Tucker asked. "It wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure."

"It'd probably be some kind of pity fest," Sam mused. " _The Weston Soap Opera_."

"Well, hopefully that never happens," Danny sighed. "For my well-being and his."

* * *

"Want to explain why this," Walter held up Wes's homemade shirt ('It IS gay if he's "dead"'), "was in the laundry?"

Wes froze. He'd completely forgot that he'd washed it. He _really_ didn't want to explain. "Can I say no?"

Walter deadpanned, "If you don't tell me anything, I'll probably just jump to the worst conclusion."

He hadn't really explained any of his conspiracy stuff to his Dad yet, and Wes was baffled that Walter really hadn't noticed yet, but it was either fess up or let his Dad think some _really_ weird stuff about him. After all, the shirt had a picture of Fenton and Phantom and had the words 'Being gay's fine, LGBT supporter' written on the back.

"Well, there's this meme going around the school, called 'It's not gay if he's dead', and this is going to sound crazy weird," Wes admitted. "But..." he looked at his Dad's unreadable face.

"Basically, a few months ago I started noticing this guy in my class was acting weird and ditching all the time. I was wondering where he was going, and I happened to remember his parents were ghost hunters, so it crossed my mind that he might've been ghost hunting. As it turns out, he's a pretty well-known ghost hunter: Danny Phantom. He's half-ghost, and can change between looking human and looking ghost and-"

"That's ridiculous," Walter said.

"I know it sounds li-"

"Stop it," Walter placed a hand firmly on Wes's shoulder. "Life isn't some sci-fi novel Wes. I don't know what you think you saw, but there is no such thing as anything between life and death-"

"I never said there was! Half-ghost can be interpreted-"

"You may think me small minded, but I know what I'm talking about. Wes, half-ghosts do not exist. The boy's probably just some skilled illusionist or-"

"Oh, I get it, you don't believe me either! Just like all the shallow kids in my school, blinded by their own pride to suggest something even out of the ordinary. Too blinded by their sheer ignorance to see the truth! Well, maybe you're ignorant, Dad, have you ever considered that? You didn't even fully listen to me before debunking my explanation."

Walter didn't dare to meet Wes's eyes. He knew what Wes was talking about, but he was under orders to lead his son away from the truth. Even though it pained him to do so, he managed to choke out, "That's because there's no such thing as half-ghosts."

That was the final straw for Wes. He punched the arm of the couch, leaving a temporary fist-sized indention. "Stubborn asshole." Wes stormed out of the room.


	19. Wes the Banter Tester

Chapter Eighteen: Wes the Banter Tester

* * *

A few days before the long-awaited holiday break, Casper High was put on an altered schedule for a 'ghost safety assembly' with the Fentons. Apparently they were going to run through the basics of how to use Fenton weapons and appropriate ghost emergency procedures. To be honest, Wes thought it sounded more like a self advertising gig rather than an educational presentation.

"-and this is my – I mean, _our_ – newest invention!" declared Jack Fenton, holding up a random device that looked like a speed gun crossed with a brick phone from the 80s. "It tells you which powers a ghost is currently using! All you have to do is point it at the ghost, and BAM-"

Many audience members flinched at the sudden noise that echoed off the gym walls. On the other hand, two rows directly behind Wes, he could hear Danny and his friends snickering at his father's outburst. Wes realized that they probably have to listen to a lot of Jack's ramblings and that they were completely used to his spastic tendencies by now.

"-it gives you a specific list of what powers the ghost is using, as well as it's current power level!"

"Yes, Jack," Maddie said, "that's very interesting, but we're supposed to be demonstrating the _basics_. You know, the wrist-rays? The regular ectoguns?"

"Right... right..." After Maddie interfered, the assembly started getting back on track. Wes found some of it useful, especially when Jack pulled the Ghost Tracker out.

" _Ghost located! 10 Feet away! You must be some sort of moron not to notice the ghost!_ "

And with that, it was pandemonium among the students. Everyone turned their heads to try to see where the ghost was, all but Wes and Team Phantom. They all knew that the tracker was keying on to Danny...

Maddie gripped her microphone, ignoring the feedback when she raised her voice over the chattering students, "No need to worry! It's just malfunctioning again!"

Maddie then leaned towards Jack, whispering something in his ear, but somehow the microphone accidentally captured some of her words, "Can't figure out... locking in... thought we fixed... Danny..."

And then, Wes lost it (what a shocker).

"Did you guys hear that?!" he screamed. "It's keying into him! HE IS A FUCKING GHOST, AND THAT THING PROVES IT!"

The next thing Wes knew, Principal Ishiyama herself was halfway up the bleachers and was approaching towards him. _Oh shit_. She was furious, her eyes dancing with a merciless flame that spelled out his absolute doom. And then, with no words, she dragged him by the collar and pulled him along helplessly out of the gym. Before they were out of the double doors, she turned back towards the Fentons apologetically, "Sorry about him. He's... sorta of a troublemaker who needs to learn to _watch his mouth_."

Before Maddie could respond, Ishiyama pushed Wes into the hallway and said in a dangerously low voice, "My office, Weston."

He gulped, and reluctantly trailed behind her. He couldn't help that even the Fentons' own equipment proved that Danny was a ghost! Hell, even Danny's parents knew that he was the source of the problem, but probably dismissed it because they didn't want to face the gruesome and horribly disappointing reality that their own son was a ghost. Even Amity's most intelligent residents were complete fools sometimes. But of course, it's not like he could explain it to Ishiyama... or anyone really.

They were at Ishiyama's office in about a minute. He faced her as she glared at him from across her desk. And in that moment, Wes felt the magnitude of how screwed he was. He felt as if the dull cream walls of her office were closing in on him; this was his penitentiary and she was his warden. He didn't even think that Danny's stupid ghost warden could hold a candle to the terror Ishiyama inflicted within him.

"I'm going to get to the point quickly," she said, glancing at a stray manila folder. "You've had fifteen write-ups concerning your use of profane language in the past month _alone_. Considering since this _is_ high school, we've been somewhat lenient. But all those write-ups add up sometime, Wes. And you cross the line when you address guests – who we are very lucky to have at this school – with this ugly language. Needless to say, I and countless members of the staff are very concerned _why_ this keeps happening."

"I-" Wes's voice was hoarse when he spoke, "I don't really have an explanation, Mrs. Ishiyama."

She was silent for a moment before straightening the pencils on the edge of her desk, "I am a woman who fully supports freedom of expression, especially in teens, but those _nasty words_ and _accusations_ do not belong in this school. You may not have an explanation, but whatever the source is of the problem is, it needs to stop. I want to hear nothing but respect for your peers and teachers out of you, Wes. Or so help me, I will not refrain from putting your hind-end in ISS."

"Alright," Wes agreed, nodding slightly.

"I am serious about this Wes," she trailed off for a moment. "You know, if there's a reason you've been acting this way, you can always talk to the counselor. I understand if you're uncomfortable, especially since our previous counselor was a ghost... but that doesn't mean that all therapists are incoherently evil."

"Or maybe the reason I don't want to see a shrink is because I'm not crazy," Wes responded automatically. He immediately regretted his words.

Ishiyama gave him a puzzled look, "I never said the word 'crazy'. I'm just suggesting that maybe it'd be helpful to talk with someone about your apparent anger problems."

"I don't have anger problems, people just don't listen to me," Wes sighed. "Can you just give me my punishment now?"

She pursed her lips, "You have to write a two-page apology letter to the Fentons by tomorrow afternoon. You'll put it in my mailbox up at the main office and _I'll_ review it. And when we come back from winter break, you have a week's worth of detentions."

Wes nodded and waited for her to tell him he was dismissed, but she continued to stare into him with (what was that?) curiosity. She finally spoke the question he least expected to hear.

"What do you mean people don't listen to you?"

Wes debated on whether he should explain. He finally decided that the worst that could come from telling Ishiyama would be his Dad finding out about his mission to expose Danny. And to be honest, Wes didn't think that Walter would really care. But to be safe, he decided to keep it fairly vague.

"At the beginning of the year, I found something out about someone. And nobody will believe me because it sounds so stupid, when there's obvious evidence looking them directly in the face everywhere. I even point out evidence to people, but they just ridicule me!"

"Well, some people aren't as open-minded as others-"

"Or it's just because everyone in this town is blinded by their own false security that they deliberately won't believe the blaringly obvious! All just to satisfy their own nakedness to the unknown, because no one will admit that some things in the world just _sound_ stupid, even though it's the actual truth!" Wes finished.

Ishiyama looked as if someone had slapped her in the face, "Well... what is it exactly that people won't believe, Wes?"

"You're still not going to believe me," he warned.

"Try me," she said. "I've been a Principal for eleven years now, there's nothing left that'll surprise me."

He decided to hold nothing back and just say it, "Danny Fenton is actually a ghost and is living a double life as Danny Phantom."

Ishiyama blinked a few times before snorting loudly, "What? Like Clark Kent?"

"Uh..." Wes said with uncertainty, "Yeah?"

She immediately started shaking with laughter, "I get it now, he's the modern day Peter Parker, but _dead_. Like Amity Park tried to get it's own comic book hero, but could only hire a _dead one_."

Wes blushed. It was one thing to have the entire student body make fun of him, but his own principal? It was a million times worse. It was the honest to God most agonizing humiliation he'd ever felt in his entire life. It was even worse with her constant allusions to comic books he _actually liked_.

"So what's the real thing that you've been trying to tell people?"

Wes stared at her. Of course she didn't think he'd been serious, despite all he said about people immediately dismissing the truth. He supposed that everyone, especially his principal, suffered the same curse of Amity's ignorance. One day he was going to prove all of those fuckers wrong, including her.

"It – it's not important," Wes choked out.

She lifted an eyebrow, "Are you sure? This could help you sort out whatever problems you've been having with controlling your language-"

And suddenly, Wes's teenage bullshit angst woke up from it's nap and took hold of him again, "Maybe the only problem I've been having with my language is that the people around me have given me valid reasons reasons to use emphatic words because _their_ stupidity is off the charts."

"Mr. Weston-"

And this time, without waiting for her dismissal, Wes simply walked out of her office. Well, technically, he ran. He didn't really want to hear what came after 'Mr. Weston', so he got out as quickly as possible. It certainly didn't look as cool as the mic drop exit he had envisioned.

The rush of everything that had just happened finally crept up on him, so Wes stopped and leaned against the wall. He hopelessly tried to bury his chagrin in the depths of his mind to no avail. Everything around him was silent except his quiet breathing, it was almost unnerving. That was until, a disembodied voice scared the absolute shit out of him.

"Wow... I can't believe even Ishiyama shot you down like that. I don't know if I should be grateful or offended that she wouldn't even _consider_ that I'm a ghost." Danny, still as Fenton, casually leaned halfway through the wall behind him. "I mean, yeah, I have a secret identity, but I'm literally the _perfect candidate_ for a ghost."

Wes, in all of his rage-filled glory, almost pissed his pants. "WHAT THE FUCK DANNY!?"

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Whoa... where'd that come from? I mean, you usually just call me Fenton or Phantom. Have we gone to the next level Senpai?"

Wes stared at Danny in horror, "What?" There was something off about the way Danny was talking and acting, almost like he was... buzzed. But Danny didn't mention it.

He gave an embarrassed shrug, "I don't know, it's some anime thing Sam told me to use as banter, but I don't know if I said it right – so I decided to let you be my 'banter tester'. You get paid nothing and have to listen to me say a lot of bad puns. So... on a scale of one to five how many stars would you give me on Yelp?"

Wes face-palmed, giving Danny a monotonous groan, "Why are you like this?"

Danny smirked, "Your misery makes me perky." Noticing Wes's incredulous look Danny laughed, "Okay, just kidding, jeez... Once you left the assembly my dad used some invention that fills the room up with ghost energy to try to attract ghosts so he could demonstrate his weapons. Except I think all the energy went to me instead, so according to Tucker I'm really hyper now – I feel fine though. Anyway, Sam told me to leave because there was a ghost out here, and I told her there wasn't because _I'm_ the one with the ghost sense, so then she asked me to come out here and prove it. I guess now she's right because now I'm here and I'm a _ghost_." Danny laughed again. "I just love reminding you of that fact."

Wes rolled his eyes, "So are you just gonna stay in that wall...?"

Danny looked down at himself. He was still halfway inside the wall. "Does it bother you?" he asked.

"What's the answer that makes you go away?" Wes remarked.

"There is none, trust me. Everyone's tried to make me go away, but they keep failing because... I guess... I don't know. Anyway what'cha doing for Christmas? It's in like five days, isn't that weird? I practically have no concept of time. It's kind of shitty because I still have to do a lot of shopping, which I absolutely _suck_ at. I think I know what I'm going to get Valerie, though. She definitely deserves it..."

"What's your deal with her, anyway?" Wes asked. "Like she thinks I'm you and then you have to pretend to be me... and God this is so confusing."

Danny shrugged, "I don't know man, everything in my life is confusing. I don't know what's going on most of the time, so I just go along with it so I don't fall behind. The whole Valerie thinks you're me thing doesn't even blip onto my radar most of the time... and I guess it won't even matter anymore."

"What?"

"What?" Danny repeated. "So at what point in this conversation are you going to accuse me of being Phantom? Because that seems to be something you tend to do every time we see each other."

"I... you're in a wall right now, Fenton! I can't really accuse you of being Phantom when you're doing that Phantom shit right now!"

Danny frowned, "I'm downgraded to just _Fenton_ again? Man, I thought we'd gotten on a first-name basis. That kind of stings, you know? My mom's Dr. Fenton, my dad's Mr. Fenton, my sister's Miss Fenton, and I'm just _Fenton_. It's kinda degrading, but whatever, it's better than Skulker screaming 'Ghost child, I'll adorn your pelt at the foot of my bed!' while I'm trying to shower and then I have to go ghost in the shower, and when I turn back to human I'm naked and that just _sucks_."

"I officially hate hyper-Danny," Wes said.

Danny scoffed, "Well, that's probably why Sam encouraged me to annoy you."

"I'm just... done with this," and with that, Wes walked away.

(He actually felt satisfied with himself because that had the perfect mic drop edge to it, which in a way kind of resolved his insecurities about how he cowardly ran out of Ishiyama's office.)

* * *

Walter rolled his eyes when he heard Wes rummaging around in his room. His son wasn't supposed to be home until at least five because of basketball practice, and if skipped practice it was either because he either received _another_ detention or that his son was once again acting upon his obsession with the Fenton boy. Wes thought that Walter was less than aware about the boy's activities concerning Danny Fenton/Phantom when in reality Walter was acting not to know so he could monitor and demoralize his son. Vlad's logic was that if Wes was unsuccessful, then the existence of half-ghosts would remain a secret, thus guaranteeing Vlad's own safety. To be honest, Vlad didn't even see Walter's son as a threat, just as a another liability for Walter.

There was another slamming drawer in Wes's room, so Walter decided to remind him that he needed to do his chores. "Wes," Walter said, opening his son's bedroom door, "before you tear your room up again you need to do your chores."

But the boy who was in Wes's room, was not his son. Sitting on the foot of his son's bed, gripping his laptop was an impatient looking black-haired, blue eyed boy. The subject of his son's unhealthy obsession here in the flesh (does it count as flesh if he's half-ghost? … probably) himself, Danny Fenton.

"Why are you on my son's laptop, in _my house_?" Walter accused.

Danny jumped, "Mr. Weston... oh hey, uh, I'm working with Wes on a school project – uh... he just asked me to get something on his laptop and to email it to him. That way we can work together at the Internet cafe..." Danny laughed nervously. Walter noticed he subtly shifted his hand to cover a USB drive connected to Wes's laptop.

"Get out of my house, Daniel," he said, in a futile hope to intimidate the boy. But predictably, he remained unmoved.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "'Daniel'? Wait, that's right. You're Vlad's assistant."

Walter was at a loss for words, "Uhhhhh..."

"Yeah," Danny said, closing the lid of Wes's laptop and quickly pocketing the USB drive, "I remember now. I saw you at his mansion that one time he kidnapped me for – uh... which time was it, again? I don't know, he kidnaps me like once every two months." Danny laughed, "Anyway, fuck this."

Walter watched in fascination as two white halos – which rivaled Vlad's black rings – engulfed the boy, transforming him into Danny Phantom. As he turned to fly away, he met eye contact with Walter and gave a careless gesture, "Go ahead and tell your son or boss about this, I don't care." And then, he was gone.

 _God,_ Walter thought, _do_ all _half-ghosts have a knack for over-dramatics?_

He sighed, he figured he should at least let Vlad know in case this was relatively important in some way. Walter hit the speed-dial button and held the phone to his ear.

"Walter, why're calling me?" Vlad snapped over the phone. In the background, Walter thought he could hear faint holiday music.

"Uh Vlad, just thought you'd want to know that your arch enemy was just in my son's room?"

Vlad sighed, "Which one?"

"My son only has one room…" Walter trailed off.

"No," Vlad said irritably. "Which arch enemy."

"Phantom," Walter supplied.

Vlad groaned, "I don't care, unless you could FIND A WAY TO GET RID OF THESE DAMN CAROLERS!"

The line went dead.

Walter supposed he'd never know what Danny was getting from Wes's laptop. He'd never tell Wes himself about his encounter with Danny, because that would raise too many questions about what exactly Walter knew about Danny. All in all, Walter resolved to just settle for some eggnog and to enjoy his short holiday break from the chaos in the political and ghost world. But, he supposed, in Amity Park there's never truly any breaks.

* * *

 **So I think this is the longest I've gone without updating, and I hate to say it, but it's probably going to be the new normal unless I have school breaks. I've also been procrastinating like hell, so sorry about that *awkward laugh***


	20. The Scavenger Hunt

Chapter Nineteen: The Scavenger Hunt

* * *

Valerie was in her apartment making cocoa when Phantom – sorry, Wes – popped his head through the floor. Literally, _just_ his head _in_ the floor. Honestly, she should've been used to it by now, after all she _was_ a ghost hunter in the most haunted city in America, but she still flinched in surprise, dropping the bag of multicolored marshmallows in her hands.

"Expecting a ghost of Christmas past?" he quipped, floating up to meet Valerie at eye level.

She glared at him, "You made me spill the marshmallows, jerk."

Chuckling, Phantom gave her a lopsided grin, "You gonna buy s'more? Okay, yeah, that was a horrible pun, forget I ever said that. Even the Dickens reference was better. Anyway... wanna go on a scavenger hunt?"

"It's Christmas Eve, you dummy," Valerie deadpanned.

"Well, _duh_ ," he rolled his eyes, "that's sort of the point. I mean, how else are we supposed to find your gift?"

" _Maybe_ ," Valerie defensively grabbed her mug of cocoa off of the counter, "under the tree, like a normal person."

Phantom scoffed, "Have you ever known _us_ to be normal?"

"Wes..." she said slowly. Even though Valerie was against leaving her apartment, she appreciated the boy's eagerness, which was a nice change from Wes's usual obsessive and bitter demeanor. In fact, she'd noticed lately that his personality in Phantom form slightly differed from his human form; but she supposed it did make sense that the mentality of a ghost and a human could change thought patterns. (At least that's what made more sense to her, and what she honestly hoped was the case.)

Phantom flew around her, grabbed her coat off the rack, and expectantly handed it to her, "Come on!" he said. "It'll be fun! Besides, the entire point is for _someone_ to get her present."

Valerie drew out a long sigh, and met his eyes again. Finally, she gave in, set her mug on the counter, and accepted her coat. "Are we flying?"

The white-haired boy sported a maniacal grin, "Yeah, but don't bother with your suit, I got us covered."

Valerie furrowed her brow, "But I want to take my-"

Phantom lurched forward and threw an arm around Valerie's waist, "Really, there's no need for it." And without warning, they rocketed upwards. Out of habit, Valerie braced herself for impact, but was relieved when she realized that Phantom was keeping her intangible. She didn't really notice the lingering cold beneath her skin due to the chilly December weather.

"You could have warned me," she complained.

"Have some holiday spirit," Phantom said. "Get it? Spirit? Cause I'm a ghost... and it's Christmas."

"Yeah," Valerie rolled her eyes, "I got it. And then you made it all awkward by explaining it."

"Well... you made it more awkward by pointing out that I made it awkward!"

She laughed, her hair blowing in the wind, "Wes Weston, you are _not_ going to one-up me in awkwardness!"

Phantom's face flicked to one of confusion for a moment before regaining clarity. When he remained silent Valerie decided to break the ice, "So where are we heading first?" she asked.

He looked at her with a poorly hidden smirk, "Try to guess."

Within seconds they approached a normal neighborhood of houses, illuminated with tacky Christmas decorations. At the edge of the block, stood a house with a UFO looking structure (that was probably illegal, to be honest) fixated on the top. She recognized immediately as the house of one of her best friends, Danny Fenton, the son of Amity's eccentric ghost hunters.

"Fenton Works..." Valerie breathed. "Why are we...? Wait, are you taking me to the Ghost Zone?" she accused.

Phantom shrugged, "I wasn't planning to. I just have to pick something up first..."

"What could you have to pick up from a family of ghost hunters? Are you suicidal or something? Wait... this doesn't have to do with your obsession with Danny, does it Wes?"

He laughed, "Just trust me."

Valerie scowled, "If this is about Danny, I swear to God Wes, how many times have I told you to not accuse him of being you as an alibi!"

He ignored her, "We're about to go inside, so you have to keep your voice down. My D – Jack's passed out in the living room on his annual Santa stakeout. Maddie and Jazz are upstairs sleeping. So that should be everyone." Valerie felt like something about that story wasn't completely right... and then it hit her.

"Where's Danny then?" asked Valerie. "He lives here too."

Phantom froze, as if he was caught up in a lie. "Danny... is also upstairs sleeping."

Valerie looked him over, searching for any signs of deception. But before she could come to a conclusion, he flew the two of them through a wall, into the Fentons' living room. Warmth flooded Valerie as Phantom let the intangibility slide away and they descended to the floor.

"So why're we-" Valerie began.

"Shhhh..." Phantom warned, gesturing behind her. She turned and saw Danny's dad, Jack Fenton, sprawled across the couch with a tin of fudge carefully balanced on his chest. For a moment, her heart jumped into her throat, before she chastised herself for being so recklessly forgetful; Jack was asleep.

Valerie lowered her voice to a whisper, "So what're we doing here, again?"

"Getting this," Phantom said, walking over to the Fentons' comically decorated Christmas tree. He grabbed a medium sized present decorated in red wrapping paper, and put it under his arm.

Valerie's eyes widened, "You can't just steal that! That's one of their presents! I thought you were better than thievery, Wes!"

"Relax..." Phantom said, "It's my present to you. I'm not stealing anything."

She crossed her arms, "If it's _your_ present, then why is it in the Fentons' house?"

"Maybe you'll find out later," he said eerily. "Besides, this," he held up the present, "isn't the scavenger hunt. We're finding something else. Anyway, there's something I wanna show you here. So, follow me."

Valerie shifted awkwardly before giving a hesitant nod, "Fine. But don't think you're getting out of telling me why my present was at the Fentons' house."

And with that she followed Phantom as he led her into the Fentons' lab. She'd been in there on a few occasions, some of which were with Phantom himself. Valerie trailed behind the ghost boy as he came to a stop in front of the blazing neon green portal to the Ghost Zone (which carefully had a wreath hung above it). Phantom lowered himself to the floor and stood still, captivated by the portal's otherworldly light.

Valerie glanced at him, "Why're we-"

With a shaky breath, his next words made her blood run cold. "This... this is where I died... well, sorta."

She looked at him with wide eyes, "What do you mean? Wes? Don't do this to me..."

"It was at the beginning of Freshman year. The portal wasn't working, and so I went inside. And then it turned on and made me half-ghost. Sounds oversimplified, but," he gave a laugh, "sorry – I haven't really had to explain it to anyone before."

Valerie held her hands close to her chest, a lump forming in her throat, "So – so you were electrocuted and that's what..."

"Yeah."

She instantly felt the urge to vomit, she didn't want to be in that room anymore. The sight of Phantom's pale face illuminated by the light of the portal seemed alienated, almost horrific. While Valerie attempted to push out the uncomfortable thoughts about Phantom's death, something nagged at her from the back of her mind. Something that didn't seem right about that story...

"Why were you in the Fentons' lab at all when it happened?" she asked.

He looked at her with apologetic eyes, "Let's leave."

"Answer my que-"

" _Valerie,_ " he said seriously, "you'll get an answer, just later. Now let's go on a scavenger hunt."

"What do you even mean by scavenger hunt?" she asked, irritated. Why did he keep blowing off all her questions?

"Maybe..." he pondered, "the purpose of the scavenger hunt is to scavenge the meaning of the scavenger hunt."

She backtracked, "What?"

"Exactly," he was smiling again, "now grab on, we're flying out of here."

* * *

After another chilly flight, Valerie and Phantom found themselves wandering the desolate halls of Casper High with only Phantom's ghostly glow to provide for light.

"Are you ever going to explain why we're here?" she complained.

"Nah," he said, "that would take all of the suspenseful drama out of it. Now, which floor is the circuit breaker..."

Five minutes later, after another quest to turn on the electricity, the pair found themselves in Mr. Lancer's classroom savoring the heat that had just turned on. Valerie leaned against one of the desks while Phantom messed around with the TV in the classroom.

"This isn't a date, is it?" Valerie asked. "Because I swear to God, if you're gonna show me that horrible Romeo and Juliet film that Lancer keeps to show the Freshmen-"

"Huh? No," he said., meeting her eyes. "Trust me, _nooo_. Not a date. I just wanted to show you something, and this was the first place I thought of where we could watch a DVD without being disrupted."

She put her hands on her hips, " _I_ have a DVD player at my apartment. You could've always asked me."

"Yeah, but then it wouldn't have been a surprise. Also, I said this was the first place I thought of – I never said I kept thinking." He continued to mess with the cables at the back of the TV to make sure the DVD player was working.

"Very methodical," she commented.

"Thanks," he said, before frowning. "Wait, was that sarcasm?"

"Nope!" Valerie grinned. "Not. at. _all_."

Suddenly a blue light erupted from the TV, showing a blank DVD menu. "Yes!" Phantom cheered, "I got it to work!" He then proceeded to hit play on the DVD player and sat on top of a desk next to Valerie.

"So what's the featured film?" she asked. "And how is it going to explain why we were at the Fentons or whatever the hell we're doing tonight?"

"It's something you're probably not going to like," Phantom answered honestly. "But... it's necessary to break it to you slowly."

Valerie was about to give another cry of protest before she was silenced with what was on the screen. It was a video of Wes ( _human_ Wes) in his room surrounded by a montage of pictures of Danny Fenton and Phantom. Wes seriously stared into the camera for a few moments before looking down at a notebook in his hands.

"Okay," he announced, "this is an update on the current information I've collected on the case of Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom. Today's date is November 29th, 2005. So here's the basic rundown of what I've obtained: Danny Fenton, at some point prior or during Freshman year, obtained ghost abilities and possesses the power to alternate between his regular human form and ghost form. This suggests that he is either on the line directly between life and death, or that ectoplasm has somehow irreversibly changed his physical body. Danny Fenton, is a total loser among his classmates and most people didn't even know his name until I told his secret to the entire school. Danny Phantom on the other hand... is the ultimate idol, well, superhero of Amity Park. He's really powerful and as far as anyone can tell, is wholly ghost. Recently I've learned that he is something called a 'halfa', which is what the ghosts call human-ghost hybrids. I've also learned that there is one more hybrid in existence, but their identity is unknown to me.

"I discovered Danny's secret in September, and after around two months of denial, he finally transformed in front of me-" Wes paused, flipping through his notebook to find the exact date, "-on November 17th, 2005. In other words, that was almost 12 days ago from the time I'm recording this. In that time he has broken into my room with his ghost powers and read my evidence diar- journal. My evidence _journal_. He has also forced another ghost to stay by my side simply to _annoy_ me, forcing his own parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, to clean up his mess. And as of yesterday, his ghost and human forms were temporarily unstable, causing him to appear like Phantom in his human form. I managed to collect picture evidence of this, only for his stupid goth girlfriend to kick me in the balls and smash my camera to smithereens with her giant ass boots."

And that's where Valerie put her foot down, "I've had enough of this shit. Wes, what the actual fuck?" She looked to Phantom, "Why are you showing me your stupid little alibi hobby? I told you to stop with all that shit!"

"Because," he said cautiously, "before you listen to me, I think you need to listen to Wes."

"You _are_ Wes!" she cried.

"Did you notice anything from the video you just watched?" he asked.

"Will you stop with the fucking mind games!" Valerie yelled. "It's Christmas Eve! I just wanted to be in bed, watching some sappy movie while drinking hot cocoa. But instead, I'm here with you, flying around in the freezing cold, trespassing and stealing from ghost hunters, watching self-made fake conspiracy videos in Mr. Lancer's classroom! I just want an answer why we're doing this: just, _why_ Wes?!"

"Because... it's the easiest way for me to break it to you. And I want you to know, tonight," he whispered.

"What does that mean? Know what? If you have something to say, just spit it out!"

He sighed, "It's not that easy, Valerie. I've been thinking about telling you forever, and I finally decided... that this way, even though it's messy and confusing... it's the _least_ painful. Hearing it directly from me may not be what you want, so... one last time, can you trust me?" he held out his hand again. "For the scavenger hunt?"

"God," she breathed, "I really hate you." She didn't know why she did it, but she took his hand, and they, once again, flew through the ceiling. "This better be worth it."

* * *

"And now," Phantom declared dramatically, "we have reached our final destination."

"Stop with the theatrics," Valerie mumbled, "I wanna get this over with so I can go home."

Phantom didn't appear to hear her. Instead, he looked towards the apartment building that was only a few blocks from Valerie's home. "Welcome to the lovely home of the Westons."

"Oh, _classy_ ," Valerie mocked, "are you bringing me home to meet the family now? Or are you showing me some more conspiracy evidence you have under your bed, Wes?"

"No and no," Phantom said, "we're here to see Wes."

Valerie laughed, "What are you talking about now? You _are_ Wes."

He looked her dead in the eyes, "When we phase into the apartment we're going to have to be quiet again. Fortunately, he's a heavy sleeper."

"What're you-"

And for the second time that night, he failed to give her a clear warning before they phased through the wall. Almost immediately they were consumed by darkness, to the extent that Phantom's unearthly glow didn't help. It took Valerie's eyes a few seconds to realize that they were, in fact, standing in someone's bedroom. There was clearly someone sleeping because she could hear their not so quiet snores.

And then, Phantom rose his hand and lit the room up with a soft green light. She was able to determine that the figure sprawled across the bed was... Wes? Her mind walked herself in circles trying to figure out how Phantom could be right next to her when Wes was clearly asleep. And then... she laughed. How could she have forgotten about one of Phantom's more useful powers: duplication. It was possible that Phantom and Wes could be in the same place because he was duplicating.

"You had me confused for a second," Valerie admitted, "but I get what you're doing now."

Phantom raised an eyebrow as Wes twitched on the bed, "And what am I doing, Val?"

"Duplicating, _duh_. But I still can't figure out how you're able to make one of your duplicates asleep. Isn't that hard or something?"

"But that's the thing, Val," Phantom said slowly, "I'm not duplicating right now. And I can prove it."

She raised an eyebrow, "Really, how, Ghost Boy?"

"I'll show you," he took her by the hand again, and the next thing she knew, they were outside on the balcony. Phantom brought out the crisp red present he had stolen from the Fentons. "Open it," he said simply.

Valerie glanced at her watch, "It's only 11:48, not exactly Christmas yet. So isn't that against the rules?"

"What are you? The Christmas police?" he scoffed. "You sound like Walker, God."

"Like who?" she asked, as she started to pull on the corner of the wrapping paper.

"This psycho ghost warden who throws anyone in his little ghost jail if they don't follow his 'rules'," Phantom rolled his eyes. "I've been arrested by him like six times, and I keep having to break out."

"Wait, so you're an actual convict?" Valerie asked dumbfounded. By now she had torn away all the wrapping paper, and only a brown box remained.

"I'm a convict as much as Dash's an honor student," he said, defensively.

"Mmm," she hummed, "you still _sound_ like a ghost convict to me, but I'll let it slide." Finally, she opened the box holding her present, and held up a strange looking gun/phone device. "What the-?"

"The Fenton Powergizer, yeah, I know, it's a stupid name. My D- Jack demonstrated it at the weapons presentation. It tells you exactly what powers a ghost is using at the moment."

Valerie raised an eyebrow, "So why are you giving this to me?"

"I want you to use it on me, right now," he said, "it'll list all of the powers I'm using right now, including duplication."

"Okay..." she said apprehensively. She held out the Powergizer and pointed at him and waited for the screen to load with a full reading of Phantom's powers.

 _FENTON POWERGIZER: READING FOR ECTO-SIG 04014_

 _INACTIVE CYROKINESIS_

 _20% TRANSPERENCY_

 _20% INTANGIBILITY_

 _NO OTHER POWERS INDENIFIED_

Valerie felt numb... no duplication. It had to be a fluke, right? The machine was broken, and that's why Phantom's duplication didn't appear on the screen. But... Phantom's last words rung in her memory: ' _It'll list all of the powers I'm using right now, including duplication.'_ That meant he _knew_ that the Powergizer wouldn't show his duplication, because... because he _wasn't_ duplicating.

But he had to be duplicating! There was no other explanation for why Phantom and Wes were in two places at once! Unless... Unless... _no_. Wes had to be Phantom, there was no denying it! Wes Weston was Phantom and that was fact! But yet... the evidence in her hands led to contradict that Wes was Phantom. Besides, if Wes wasn't Phantom, then who had she been flying around with all night? Who had she been partnering with for months in her battles?

(The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.)

 _Wes's face on a dusty TV screen, "So here's the basic rundown of what I've obtained: Danny Fenton, at some point prior or during Freshman year, obtained ghost abilities and possesses the power to alternate between his regular human form and ghost form."_

(One by one, they all come together.)

 _Phantom stood in front of the Fentons' ghost portal, "This... this is where I died... well, sorta. It was at the beginning of Freshman year. The portal wasn't working, and so I went inside. And then it turned on and made me half-ghost."_

(You're able to vaguely make out parts of the picture.)

 _They floated outside of the Fentons' house. "Where's Danny then? He lives here too," she had asked._

 _Phantom froze, as if he was caught up in a lie. "Danny... is also upstairs sleeping."_

(But the puzzle doesn't look like the one on the front of the box.)

 _"_ _Because," Phantom said cautiously, "before you listen to me, I think you need to listen to Wes."_

 _"_ _You_ are _Wes!" she cried._

(It creates a completely different image entirely.)

Valerie carefully lowered the Powergizer and took a shaky breath. If this was what she thought it meant, then... "You're not really Wes, are you? That's what you've been trying to tell met this entire time."

He looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry Valerie. But... if I just told you, you wouldn't have believed me. I had to introduce the idea slowly for it to make sense, and according to Jazz, this way has the least 'mental repercussions', whatever those are."

"So you're Danny," she said simply.

"Yeah..." he said. And as proof, he transformed from Danny Phantom into Danny Fenton right before her eyes. She looked at him perplexed; she hadn't seen him transform before.

"So Wes wasn't actually crazy after all," Danny confirmed, "he figured out my secret earlier in the year and since then he's got himself tangled in my daily battle to keep my identity."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Valerie spoke again, "Y'know," she said, "I'd already gotten used to the fact that Phantom was a half-ghost, so this isn't as shocking as I thought it'd be. Your sister's onto something."

He grinned, "Well, she is planning to major in psychology next year at Harvard." He paused, "You're not mad at me about this, right?"

"I'm kinda mad," she shrugged, "I mean, you let me think that you were _Wes Weston_ for a few months. That, and you decided to tell me this on _Christmas fucking Eve_."

"I thought the holidays would be an appropriate time to come clean," he shrugged.

"I guess it is sort of poetic in a _really_ weird sort of way. But did you really have to keeping using the phrase 'scavenger hunt'?"

He pouted, "It sounded playful."

She snorted, "God Danny, Phantom or not, you're still just an overgrown puppy!"

He groaned, "I get that _all the time_ from Sam and Tucker."

"Do they know too?" she asked.

"They were there when it happened," he said, "the portal accident. For a while it was just a crazy ride between the three of us, and then the whole Axion thing happened and you started hunting."

Valerie, slept that night with ease. She felt like an old scab she didn't even know she had, had finally healed. Though before, she hadn't known that Danny was Phantom, something always felt off about the difference between Wes and Phantom. She had thought that they were supposed to be the same person, though Wes would completely forget certain encounters and go off the deep end from time to time. So now, with the knowledge that Danny Fenton was Phantom, Valerie felt like she had finally earned closure on a problem she hadn't even known had existed.

* * *

Wes woke up Christmas morning to the smell of coffee and a weird fluttery thing on his forehead. Disoriented, Wes swatted at it until it stopped tickling his nose before he fully regained consciousness. Twice as confused, Wes sat up and found a discarded post-it note on his bed that he assumed had knocked off of his face upon waking up. It read: **'Nice jammies, love your friend, Dead Santa (AKA Danny)'**

It took him a moment to realize that Danny must've been in his room last night and left him a stupid note. Before Wes could get pissed about Danny's trespassing, _again_ , Walter called his son from the other room. "Wes! Wake up! I'm waiting and I have coffee!"

Honestly, Danny was the _last_ person Wes wanted to be thinking about during Christmas. So for the sake of holiday spirit, he let it slide... but _only_ for today.

* * *

 **So... now Valerie knows. I thought in the book, Christmas would be a good time for her to make the revelation, but I wanted it to be Danny's choice for her to find out. I hope you guys didn't think it was too lame of a reaction.**

 **On another note, today is October 1st and I literally can't wait for the rest of the month's spookiness. Halloween is my favorite holiday and October has _great_ weather where I live, so I'm practically over the moon right now. Hopefully I can post another update before the end of the month, but if not, enjoy the official 'spooky month'.**


	21. Sanctuary in the Closet

Chapter Twenty: Sanctuary in the Closet

* * *

Repetitions of the phrase "so, how was your holidays?" bounced off of the walls in Casper High. Wes leaned sullenly against his locker, observing the crowded hallway as students prepared for the official beginning of the second semester. He heard the betterment of many students' first conversations with their friends since Christmas, and honestly, it was almost nauseating. He'd rather be at home working on a new evidence spreadsheet or disobeying Walter's strict rule not to play basketball inside the house when he wasn't there. He _did not_ need to know about Paulina's raunchy New Year's party with the A-Listers and as well as the nerds' D &D tournament that went on for three days straight (three lonely days of scarfing down Hot Pockets and cheese-puffs and not showering).

And then... when he finally had enough about hearing about his fellow delinquent teenagers recreational activities over the break, Wes's attention was instantly redirected to the invisible trio (metaphorically invisible, this time).

Tucker was wearing an overlarge Star Wars knit sweater, Sam had a new side-shave on the left side of her head (Wes had almost heard her mother's screams of horror from his apartment near Elmerton), and Danny was unenthusiastically carrying a brand new backpack covered with pictures of his Dad's face. But nonetheless, the were the same ghost-busting trio, who time and time again ruined Wes's tattered reputation. But he was determined, _not anymore_. This year, he will make a change, he _swore_ it.

Most people had simple New Year's resolutions: lose weight, stop procrastinating, fall in love, etc. Wes, on the other hand, didn't have a goal for his New Year's resolution. He had an _ambition._ This year, 2006, he was (and he _was_ going to do it) going to reveal Danny's secret and regain his lost credibility from every damned idiot that initially denied him.

Wes stared down Danny and his two friends as they approached the half-ghost's locker. Wes omitted a quiet shout of protest when Danny glanced at the overcrowded hallway, shrugged, and intangibly put his hand through his locker door.

"HOW ARE YOU _IDIOTS_ NOT SEEING THIS?" he screamed. "HIS HAND IS LITERALLY _INSIDE_ A LOCKER RIGHT NOW! HE'S USING HIS OWN POWERS IN FRONT OF YOU AND YOU DON'T EVEN NOTICE – GAH! EVERYONE IS AN IDIOT!"

And with that, Wes stormed down the hallway, no one giving him a second look. Danny looked at his snickering friends and smirked, "I guess we can't really be back at school without Wes going psycho on everyone for automatically denying my secret identity."

Sam shrugged, "It wouldn't be the same without that loud bastard."

* * *

It was later that same day Wes found himself scared shitless, and hiding in the janitor's closet. To explain _why_ exactly, the story starts two weeks previously, at Vlad Master's annual Christmas party. Unfortunately, Wes hadn't been able to make any excuses to get out of it, so he was forcefully dragged along by Walter to Vlad's extravagant mansion of doom. Christmas, naturally, was supposed to be a lively holiday – but if anyone knew how to kill the mood, it was _Vlad_.

So when Wes found himself in Vlad's trophy room again, he _knew_ that what he was doing was a bad idea; that he should've learned from the last time. But this time... he had a _plan_. He knew that Vlad's stupid Maddie Fenton hologram alerted him whenever someone was in his secret lab, so if Wes disabled her before she could alert Vlad... he could do whatever he wanted.

Now disabling her would've normally been the difficult part, but this time, Wes had that part in the bag. A few days before school ended, Sam had thrown Tucker's technology laden backpack at Skulker to try to make him lose balance, but it didn't work, sending it crashing to the floor. (After that, Tucker had started screaming about his 'precious babies' and how he would never forgive Sam for her awful treason).

During all the chaos, Wes swiped a few of Tucker's more _interesting_ devices. One of which, happened to be, a pen that emitted a small electromagnetic field and withheld the ability to short out any electronic within a five foot radius. Wes had no idea where Tucker got it, but _damn_ , it was cool. Dash still couldn't figure out why his cell phone wouldn't turn on.

So, with the electromagnetic pen in hand, Wes scaled down the stairs to Vlad's lab. It was the same as Wes remembered it: glossy linoleum floors, the weird glowing doorway into another dimension, a panel of computer screens, large chambers bordering the walls, an array of vials with glowing liquids, and the lingering smell of what Wes had learned was ectoplasm (he did _not_ want to know why Vlad was experimenting with ghostly substances).

It only took about ten seconds before the hologram shimmered into visibility. "Welcome Master Vlad, I have monitored the ecto-repellant samples and have determined that they should be cooled at precisely -8º Celsius, roughly 17º Fahrenheit. I took it upon myself to adjust the-"

And that's as far as the Maddiegram ever got with her report. Wes ran at her in a mad frenzy and pressed down on the electromagnetic pen. The hologram froze before dramatically breaking into pixels and vanishing.

"Well," Wes said, pocketing the pen, "it's a good thing that worked."

He decided to look at what was laying around the lab, and came to a stack of papers on a table. The thing was, they weren't organized papers or documents, but more like... junkmail. Wes sifted through some of them before getting bored. However, there was one near the top of the stack that piqued his interest.

 **'You're Invited to: Johnny 13 & Kitty's Annual Holiday Party**

 **Where?: Johnny's Lair (just follow the motorcycle trail to the end)**

 **Food: Catering by the Lunch Lady and Box Ghost; ecto-punch later on**

 **When?: December 24** **th** **; begins when the GZ sky turns from neon to moderate green, ends whenever Walker shows up cause he's** _ **lame**_ **'**

Wes held the invitation in pure confusion. Why was Vlad Masters of all people being invited to a ghost Christmas party? Wes wracked his brain for possible reasons but found nil. Finally, he set the invitation back on the table and turned around, only to walk straight into a cabinet of strange vials. The cabinet gave one horrendous shake before completely collapsing. Wes winced as dozens of vials shattered on impact and fizzled into the floor, dissolving the upper tiles.

Wes wanted to look around more, but after that incident, he figured it was best to get out of the lab as soon as possible. He did _not_ want to be there to face Vlad's wrath when he discovered someone had trashed all of his presumably valuable substances.

Wes hadn't thought about that incident since it occurred. That was, until, on the first day back in school Vlad Masters walked into Casper High to talk with Principal Ishiyama about official business. It was directly after lunch, but a few minutes before the start of Wes's fifth period class. He had been walking to his locker when he spotted the billionaire and principal, walking side-by-side. It was a weird image, considering the near two-foot height difference between the two.

"-thank you for the ghost security funding, Mayor Masters!"

"It's no problem," Vlad said, in his usual egotistical tone, "after all, ghost safety has grown to be quite a problem in Casper High. It's not like we can always rely on that punk, Danny Phantom, he's proven to lack reliability on multiple occasions. I've read the report of the day he failed to apprehend that snow ghost when it haunted that poor boy... Wesley."

Of course, the exact moment he spoke Wes's name, Vlad noticed him standing lonesome in the hallway. Wes and Vlad momentarily made eye-contact, and an unnatural sense of raw fear surged through Wes's body. There was... _something_ in Vlad's stare, something inhuman and dangerous. Vlad knew that Wes was the culprit who trashed his lab, and he was _pissed_.

Wes's legs started before his common sense did. Wes ran through the hallways, as quick as possible – putting as much distance between him and Vlad as he could. He ignored Ishiyama's angry cries of "Wes Weston! No running in the hallways!" and found an empty janitor's closet. He shut the door with force he didn't know he possessed, and found a small bucket to use as a makeshift seat.

Wes didn't know how long he sat there, listening to his own shallow breaths, but he knew that he wasn't leaving until he _knew_ Vlad was gone. He'd always suspected there was something off about him, but that experience had just furthered his suspicions that there was something truly evil about him.

Wes didn't have much time to reflect on that fact, because in that instant, Danny Phantom phased through the opposite wall of the closet looking worse for wear. Wes omitted a startling gasp as his heart leapt into his throat.

"Ugh," Danny muttered, "that was tough. I should change back before anyone notices..." he trailed off as he met eyes with Wes. For about three seconds, two pairs of green eyes bore into each other with quizzical puzzlement.

Finally, Danny pointed at Wes, "What are you doing in my closet?"

"'Your' closet? Since when?" Wes asked dumbfounded. He then added defensively, "I wasn't hiding or anything!"

"Ugh," Danny groaned, "Whatever. Uh..." his face then matched one of fake surprise, and he gestured somewhere behind Wes, "Watch out! A ghost!"

Wes, still pumped up full of adrenaline from running away from Vlad, looked over his shoulder, "What? Where?!"

In that moment, Danny summoned the white rings, completing his transformation from Danny Phantom to Danny Fenton. Realizing he'd been fooled, Wes gave him an incredulous look.

In response, Danny forced a smile, "Oh hi, Wes! Long time no see! You _just missed_ the ghost boy, he went that way!"

Wes grit his teeth, "Stopping fucking around Fenton. You change in front of me every. single. day."

Danny laughed, "Aww, come on!"

Wes simmered, refusing to abandon his position in front of the mop bucket. "You're an idiot."

"Guilty," he said, "It's no wonder I'm a C average student. Yet another mystery you've uncovered, Wes..." he noticed Wes's unchanging expression. "So are you gonna hang out in here until I leave?"

"Feel free to leave," Wes muttered, "I won't follow you because I'm here of my free will. I'm not coming out of the closet until I know Vlad's gone." He hadn't meant to say the last part, and instantly regretted it.

Danny snorted, "Maybe Paulina was right after all about her whole gay theory. Don't worry Wes, you can stay in here as _long_ as you want."

It took Wes a few seconds to realize what Danny was implying, and then it occurred to him what he had just said. ' _Coming out of the closet...'_ Oh, ew! "I – I didn't mean it like _that_!" Wes stammered, visibly blushing.

"I'm sure you didn't," Danny sported a Cheshire Cat like grin.

"I'm just hiding from Vlad fucking Masters because I accidentally destroyed part of his lab!" Wes protested.

Danny's face brightened, "Really? Good job!" Then he seemed to backtrack, "Wait... Vlad's here. What's he planning this time?"

Wes shrugged, "I heard Ishiyama thanking him about new ghost security funding."

Danny paled, "Shit. Not again." And with that, he vanished, leaving Wes alone in the janitor's closet again.

Wes glowered, "I hate it when he does that."

* * *

The next day, Wes managed to overhear Danny ranting to his friends. Honestly, this time he couldn't _help_ but overhear. After all, it wasn't like Danny ranted quietly.

"I'm telling you," he slammed his locker, "Plasmius is up to _something_!"

Sam frowned, "I mean, we don't know for sure..."

"He gave the school a grant for new ghost security. Remember last time he started making changes in our school?"

"We remember Danny," Tucker said slowly, "but didn't you hear it from Wes? After all, his Dad works for him, and he's not very reliable."

"Hey," Wes protested without a second thought, "I'm reliable!"

The trio acknowledged their eavesdropper, before brushing him off. Wes felt their cold-shoulder towards him, but stood his ground.

"I don't think the thing with his Dad is a problem, Tuck," Danny said. "Wes doesn't even know about Plasmius."

"What are you talking about?" Wes asked, frustrated that he they were talking as if they were above him.

"Huh," Sam said, "so he doesn't know. I didn't expect that one."

Tucker snorted, "That's kind of embarrassing. I'd figured that since he's such a meddling conspiracist he'd have figured it out ages ago."

"I can _hear you_ ," Wes snarled.

"We're aware," Sam said. "We just don't really care."

"Alright," Tucker said, addressing Danny, "let's assume that Plasmius _is_ up to something. If he's messing with the security, we can just do what we do at your house and disable it all."

"See Danny," Sam reassured, "there's nothing to worry about."

Danny sighed, "That's usually what you say before something bad happens."

And moments later, fate proved Danny's words correct. As he stepped away from his locker, he managed to take about five steps before a green net dropped from the ceiling, capturing him. "See," he told Sam.

She winced, "Sorry."

Wes didn't stay around to hear anymore, because he ran to his locker to grab his camera. Unfortunately, by the time he returned, Tetslaff had freed Danny from the net with a handsaw that she conveniently was carrying around (Wes did _not_ want to know why). However, that wouldn't be the last time that day Danny would be caught off-guard by ghost security measures...

* * *

By the end of the day, there had been fourteen incidents with Mayor Master's new security measures 'malfunctioning' around Danny. The staff of Casper High offered no explanation or commentary to why it only targeted one student, but the system was quickly revoked in regards to the overall safety of the school. Danny, on the other hand, was exempt from two weeks of homework in apology for the security system. Little did they know, that the system was completely operational and Danny was being _awarded_ for it's accuracy to target ghosts.

Wes still didn't understand how the school could just turn a blind eye to everything. He tried his normal tactic of pointing out the obvious ( _"Wow! The ghost security keeps capturing Danny! Weird, it's like it recognizes him as a_ ghost _or something!"_ ), and as usual, he was ignored by the entirety of the student body. At least he got the pleasure of watching Danny being helplessly captured so many times in one day – now _that_ had been a treat.

Wes thought back to the guy that Danny had blamed for the security system. While Masters had been the benefactor to fund the system, Danny and his friends claimed that someone named 'Plasmius' was responsible. Come to think of it, he'd heard that name before, he just couldn't place when. Today he'd witnessed exactly what they were capable of doing to Danny. And with that information, Wes knew whoever they were, he did _not_ want to get on their bad side.

* * *

 **Okay, I know it seems like it's taking Wes a while to figure out that Vlad is also half-ghost, but at this point he isn't really looking to find the other halfa. Besides, I'm also planning a very specific revelation for him to figure out Vlad is Plasmius. So don't worry, it's coming eventually.**


	22. Absent Heartbeat

Chapter Twenty-One: Absent Heartbeat

* * *

"Okay class," Mr. Lancer threateningly leaned in towards the blank faces of adolescence. "I expect you all to be well-behaved today for our guest speakers from the hospital to talk about the importance of the medical field. So Fenton, Weston, no shenanigans! Now, would you all please be respectful for Ms. Bridgett and Mrs. Foley."

In the back of the class Dash snorted, "Is that your Mommy, _Shmoley_."

"Fuck off, Dash," Tucker hissed, quiet enough so that his mother didn't hear him.

Angela Foley stood at a podium in front of the classroom, and sported a cancerous smile at the dead teenagers staring back at her. "Thank you, Mr. Lancer. Now, today, we'll be talking to you bright young students about what it's like being a medical worker, and will hopefully help some of you decide if it's what you want to pursue as a career. Yes, you're only Sophomores, but it's never too young to be thinking about the future..."

Wes groaned from his seat behind Danny, "Ugh, this is _so_ pointless."

Danny heard this and rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Weston. This is actually _important_ to some people."

Wes snorted, "Like you care so much about it."

"Well," Danny whispered, "I'm not bashing on other people's jobs, like you are. Medical workers are a huge part of society because everyone gets hurt at some point."

Wes smirked, and leaned right next to Danny's ear, " _Well_ ," he said in a tone, rivaling Danny's, "maybe less people would need medical attention if _you_ did _your_ job right."

Wes felt an adequate sense of satisfaction when he saw the faint glow of green reflect off of the surface of Danny's desk.

Time in class seemed to pass more slowly than usual, much to everyone's (especially Tucker's) dismay. About half an hour in, Ms. Bridgett, the other guest speaker, suggested a group activity to excite the less-than-alive (cough – Danny – cough) students. So they started with the simplest and one of the most vital skills important to know: how to find a pulse.

Wes scoffed, "This is a waste of time. _Everyone_ knows how to find a pulse, therefore, there's absolutely no purpose to this."

Mrs. Foley heard him, and singled him out, "If that's how you feel..."

"Wes."

"If that's how you feel, Wes, then you can be the first person to demonstrate how to find a pulse. Now, would anyone be willing to volunteer to have their pulse found?"

An idea struck Danny, an idea that would wipe that stupid smug look off of Wes's idiotic, gloating face. Danny adopted a shit-eating expression, and was quick to raise his hand, "I'll do it, Mrs. Foley."

"Now Daniel," Mr. Lancer said experimentally, "you better not-"

"Thank you, Danny," Mrs. Foley said, without paying attention to Mr. Lancer. "You've always been one to step up to the plate when it comes to participation."

At those words, most of the class silently laughed at the irony considering Danny's usual lack for any participation.

"Now just hold your arm out for Wes... Wes, you'll find his pulse by applying pressure to his radial artery, which is _here_ on his wrist. You always use your index and middle fingers, never your thumb."

" _I know_ ," Wes retorted sharply, following her instructions. He placed his fingers on Danny's wrist, before quickly readjusting them. And then readjusting again, and again, and again. No matter where he placed his fingers, he couldn't find _any_ pulse. Wait, of course – since Danny was half-ghost, he could possibly have manipulation of his own heartbeat, stopping it to make Wes look like a complete fool. Wes growled in frustration. _That son of a bitch_!

Mrs. Foley was smirking, "Is there a problem Wes? Are you having a hard time locating the artery?"

Wes ignored her, and looked Danny straight in the eye, "I know what you're doing, you dead freak."

"Mr. Weston!" interjected Mr. Lancer.

"He's making me look stupid on purpose!" Wes tried to explain to the class. "He's stopping his own heartbeat!"

Mrs. Foley and Ms. Bridgett shared twin looks of bewilderment.

"Did you just say Danny's stopping his own heartbeat?" Mrs. Foley questioned.

"Yes, I did!" Wes fumed, "And it's because he is a _freaking ghost_!"

"MR. WESTON!" Lancer tried again.

"Excuse me?" questioned Mrs. Foley. "A ghost? Danny," she turned to the boy, "let me check your pulse."

Danny, who was quietly watching the exchange with eager eyes like the rest of the class, "Sure, Mrs. Foley."

He held his arm out, and within seconds Mrs. Foley was able to locate the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. She chuckled, "No ghost here, just a sleep-deprived, _alive_ teenager. Though, your bpm is a _little_ slow."

"But – but," Wes choked, "that doesn't prove anything! He can turn his heartbeat on and off, so-"

"Weston," Mr. Lancer snapped, "drop it! I'd like you to go wait outside in the hallway until the end of the period, and then we can talk after class."

"That's not fair-"

"WES!"

"Okay, sheesh, fine." Wes cautiously grabbed his belongings and exited the classroom. After that, the rest of the period went without incident, and Mrs. Foley and Ms. Bridgett were able to continue their presentation in peace.

At the end of class, Danny approached Mrs. Foley, looking slightly guilty. "Uh, Mrs. Foley?"

"Yeah, Danny," she said in a somewhat friendly tone, "what is it?"  
"Well..." he started, "I was hoping that you wouldn't mention any of this to my parents? I mean, Wes is kind of a special case."

She looked confused for a moment, before realizing what Danny was talking about, "You mean about that boy thinking you're a ghost?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah."

Mrs. Foley laughed, "I get it, with parents like yours, I wouldn't want them to know _anything_ about being associated with ghosts."

" _Tell me about it_ ," he said. "Anyway, thanks. Oh, and your presentation was really good today."

She smiled, "Well, it was _interesting_ to say the least."

* * *

"Seriously, dude," Tucker said, "how long did you spend talking to my Mom?"

Danny shrugged, "I was just making sure she wouldn't tell my parents about Wes's latest 'episode'."

Tucker snorted, "Something tells me that if your parents haven't noticed your secret at this point, whatever Wes Weston says isn't going to change anything."

"I guess," Danny nodded in agreement.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were all standing in the same direction, so none of them noticed when a vengeful Wes crept behind Danny and forcefully grabbed his hair. Since Danny was in a school environment, he had to push down his normal reflexes to maintain his weakling act. He couldn't see who was behind him, but he pretended to struggle a little bit against his perpetrator's grasp, and before he could really do anything else, Wes let go of Danny. Danny turned around (and tripped a little, because he's 'weak') and came face to face with Wes.

"Wha-"

He felt the back of his hair where Wes had grabbed him, and recoiled instantly when he felt something slimy and gooey stuck in his hair. It only took him a few seconds to realize that the gross substance sticky to his hair was _gum_.

"What the fuck was that for?" Tucker barked. Sam seethed with anger, presumably too enraged to engage in her usual ranting.

Wes only wore a mask of revenge. "What's the problem, Phantom, can't you just phase it out?"

The squabble in the hallway had brought too much attention to them, because while even though Casper High was accustomed to Wes's screaming assaults, it wasn't often you saw him physically target Danny. This was... different. Everyone could see the gum in Danny's hair, and it was _really_ stuck in there. The only way Danny could get it out would be a very careful haircut, unless he used his powers. And Wes was going to use that to his advantage. If the gum disappeared from Danny's hair without a haircut, that would have to mean that he had phased it out. It would ensure Wes's evidence.

At the moment, only about fifteen people were still in that area of the hallway, but all of them could see that Danny Fenton's hair was ultimately ruined.

"That was a little... extreme, Wes," a timid girl said.

He turned to her, confused. "Why?" Wes asked. "He can just phase it out of his hair-"

"Just drop it already dude," another guy said. "You're starting to be a real asshole."

"Oh _I_ am?" Wes defended. "Sure, I'm not the one making me look crazy, it's all Danny!"

"Last time I checked," someone else chimed in, "you're the only person making yourself look crazy, Wes."

Wes swallowed a small cry of frustration. "Whatever!" he declared. "You'll all see. He'll phase the gum out of his hair, and it'll be obvious! You _all_ see!"

At that moment, Danny's ghost sense went off. Everybody's focus was more on Wes than him, and those who still saw him wouldn't blame him for running away, so Danny took the opportunity to get out of sight. He slipped into a janitor's closet and subsequently transformed, flying through the roof as quick as possible. Danny anxiously looked around, wanting to get the fight resolved soon so he could get to his next class on time.

"Hey Phantom," a familiar voice called, followed by the rev of a monstrous motor. "I was getting kind of bored in the Zone so I thought I'd blow off a little steam, you get what I mean?"

Johnny's bike tore across the power-lines and landed perfectly on top of the school's roof. Shadow lingered behind him, ominously staying close to his master. Danny accessed the situation and decided that a fight with Johnny could be resolved fairly easily if Shadow was taken out of commission, so that would be his main priority.

"Why?" Danny taunted, "Did Kitty run off and cheat on you, again?"

Johnny, however, didn't take the bait. Instead, the biker ghost grinned in defiance. "Nah, if anything her clinginess is what's driving me up the wall." At those words, he threw out his arm, "Shadow! Attack!"

The shade left Johnny and shot towards Danny, who readily threw up a shield to deflect the weak attack. Then, in a clever counter, Danny purposely let go of the shield, and grabbed onto Shadow's vague shoulders, and pulled him down into the school building intangibly and invisibly. Danny held onto the shrieking Shadow as he forced his opponent into an empty health classroom. He then hit Shadow back with an ectoblast, to buy him a few seconds, and quickly plugged in a spare projector. Since nothing was in the projector, it created a beam of bright, concentrated light, which Danny then pointed at Shadow.

Shadow screamed and was forced into a weaker form as the light tore him apart. He retreated from Danny, and tried to fly up to the roof again, but Danny was faster. He grabbed his thermos and captured Shadow, before returning to the roof to deal with Johnny. But Johnny wasn't where he'd been before.

When Danny phased back up, he had to look around to find him, until his flying motorcycle appeared out of nowhere and almost ran Danny over. Danny didn't have any time to react, so he had to split his body in half to avoid being hit. Johnny cursed in frustration that his plan didn't work and Danny grinned, shooting an ectobast at one of the bike's tires.

"Did you really think that would work?" Danny asked. "I mean, how hard is it to dodge a bike? Admit it Johnny, you're getting a little uncreative."

"Oh yeah?" Johnny said. "What about this, then?" He clicked a button on the bike's handle, and the tires doubled in size and grew spikes. The base of the bike also glowed dark green and hummed with ectoplasmic fire.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Danny deadpanned.

Johnny looked offended. "Uhh, yes?"

"I've seen little girls with scarier bikes," he crossed his arms.

"You – you take that back!" Johnny protested. "My bike is scary as hell!"

"Well, prove it," Danny challenged. He knew when Johnny's ego got insulted he started making more irrational decisions.

The two began to fight again, and thanks to Johnny's bike, they took their battle all around Casper High's campus, effectively making Danny late for class. Finally, Danny managed to blow out all of the monster tires on the bike, leaving Johnny to rely on his powers to fight Danny. He couldn't even make an escape without his bike, so he was stuck. However, when he got closer to Danny for hand-to-hand combat, the biker ghost noticed something.

"Yo, Phantom," Johnny said, laughing as he dodged Danny's violent kick, "is that _gum_ in your hair?"

Danny sighed, throwing another ectoblast, "Some asshole in school thought it'd be funny."

Johnny's laughing died down. "Really? Who?"

Danny didn't really notice the angry expression on Johnny's face, but he attested it to the fact that the two of them were currently in a fight.

"Just a kid, why do you _care_?"

"I don't," Johnny found himself saying. Even though he fought with Phantom a lot, he respected the dude, and didn't think it was cool that he was bullied in his human form. The guy was half-dead and already had to fight ghosts all day – he didn't need shit from human bullies either. He was better than that, especially since Phantom was tough enough to defend himself.

Johnny didn't realize it, but by the end of that fight, when Phantom had sucked him into his cramped thermos with Shadow, he'd made a decision. A decision that would definitely benefit the ghost-kid.

* * *

"Kitty, you know how Phantom has human bullies? One of them apparently put gum in his hair today."

"Hmm?" Kitty asked, wondering where Johnny was going with this. The two of them, well technically three counting _that bad luck thing_ , were hanging around Kitty's lair.

"It's not really fair," Johnny elaborated. "Phantom's strong, he doesn't deserve to be their scrapegoat. Strong guys like him shouldn't be prey to ego-inflated humans. I think I wanna get some payback on the dude doing shit to him."

"What d'you mean 'payback'? And I thought you didn't like Phantom," she added.

"Nah, he's okay, I guess," Johnny shrugged. "He's one of the only other ghosts our age. And he's cool to fight. But I don't really hate the guy."

"Guess that makes sense," Kitty shrugs. "So what are you gonna do to the dude's bullies?"

"I think I'm just gonna set Shadow on them for a while, make their lives miserable with bad luck. He never told me who it was, but I'm guessing it's that tall blonde meat-head."

"Actually," Kitty thought, "it may not be. The blonde one usually goes for more physical beatings, I know cause I had to be his friend that time I overshadowed that one girl."

"Who could it be then?" Johnny wondered.

Kitty suddenly looked like she remembered something important. "It's probably that other boy, Wes or something. Y'know, red-head, annoying? The one that also knows Phantom's secret identity."

Johnny frowned, "Really? How do you know about all that?"

Kitty scoffed, "Um, have you been keeping up with the halfa gossip lately?" she put her hands on her hips. "Plasmius told me _all_ of the deets at our Christmas party. Honestly I only invited him out of courtesy, but when he's drinking, he has a _lot_ of cool stories to tell to basically anyone standing around. I guess you didn't notice 'cause you were getting handsy with that Aztec girl-"

Johnny looked like he'd been slapped. "Babe, I've told you, it wasn't like-"

"I know, whatever," she crossed her arms defensively.

"Whatever you say," Johnny grabbed Kitty's hands. "I promise. You're the best, princess."

"I know," Kitty said. "You are too, Johnny."

The two of them kissed, and Johnny didn't forget his plan to target that Wes kid. Phantom deserved it, after all.

* * *

 **Edit 7/29/2018: I had to rewrite major parts of this chapter, and it got so long I had to separate it into two parts, so that's this chapter and the next one.**


	23. Unlucky Encounters

Chapter Twenty-Two: Unlucky Encounters

* * *

A few days later, Wes was sitting in class, and Danny had left a few minutes earlier, so that meant a ghost attack was or would be happening. Sam and Tucker didn't seem worried, so it was probably just a regular job.

Wes still couldn't get over what had happened a few days ago. After everything, Danny _had_ phased the gum out of hair, and even though he'd pointed it out to _everyone_ that the only way he could've got the gum out was a haircut, nobody listened, as usual! This was concrete evidence, a physical impossibility! It was just too frustrating!

As he lost himself to his thoughts, Wes was torn back into the real world by the sound of a window being smashed. It wasn't in his classroom for once, but probably one next door judging by the volume of the noise.

"Ghost attack," announced the teacher dully. Ghosts attacks _were_ daily, after all. "It sounded close so we'll have to evacuate."

As his class exited the room, Wes tried to stay near Sam and Tucker to possibly find out what was happening, but he was swiftly separated from Danny's two friends. As they quickly scattered down the hallway, Wes could see in the distance that Danny was fighting the Lunch Lady.

"Eat this!" He screamed at the Lunch Lady, putting his hands together to throw an extra charged ectoblast, launching the Lunch Lady's now burning meat form into the wall of lockers. _Oh shit._ That was his locker!

Fortunately for Danny, the Lunch Lady was now incapacitated and easy to capture. Unfortunately for Wes and all his locker neighbors, all of his belongings inside his locker were completely trashed. After the events of the fight, Wes learned that three of his textbooks were rendered forever unusable, his camera would probably need a repair or two, and that his gym clothes had been burnt to a crisp. If his gym socks smelled bad normally, they were worse when it was cooked with ghost meat.

* * *

After tripping over his own feet a total of twelve times when he walked from his science class to gym class, Wes happened to find Star single-highhandedly struggling to push a full-sized popcorn machine up the ramp to the gym. Most other people had already abandoned the hallways to go to class, so there wasn't anyone else nearby to help her. Wes hesitated, because he wanted to help her but he also didn't want to be on her radar, because otherwise the fate of rejection became more real. But, before Wes knew what he was doing, he stepped forward.

"Do you need some help?" he asked. Star jumped, and almost let go of the grip she had on the machine. She regained herself, but still wavered.

"Oh," she said, rolling her eyes, "it's you. Resident crazy dude."

Wes blushed and opted to look at his feet. "Yep, uh – that's me," he paused. It'd be easier to walk away now and not make an awkward mess of himself. But having a crush is never easy, is it? "I... I know I have a reputation and stuff, but you're clearly struggling, and uh... Can I give you a hand?"

Star bit her lip, obviously contemplating whether or not to accept his offer. Sure, she thought the dude was nuts, but he was on the basketball team so he probably had enough muscle to actually help her. She finally looked back at Wes, resolving her dilemma. "Fine. You can help me. Just... don't dent the machine. Lancer'll kill me for damaging school property."

Wes got on the opposite side of the popcorn machine and started to pull it up the ramp. With his help, the two of them managed to get it up onto the next floor.

"Thanks," Star breathed, "I guess that saved me a few more minutes of pushing it alone."

"So what's with the popcorn machine anyway?" he asked. "Where are you taking it?"

"Oh," Star said, "it's for the Casper Cheerleading Committee Fundraiser tonight. Basketball homecoming's coming up, after all. We're doing a public showing of the movie in the gym. The admission is free, but the real cash is from the concessions, hence the popcorn machine. I had to haul it out all the way from the Football stadium in the freezing cold. It sucked."

"That sounds awful," Wes said, solemnly. "I guess it's a good thing I helped pushing up the steep ramp, I guess."

"Yeah," she nodded. "So, uh, don't you have to be getting to class? The tardy bell rung two minutes ago."

"Oh," Wes said, realization smacking him in the face. "I do – shit! It was, uh, good talking to y-" he turned around, only to walk straight into the popcorn machine. The force of Wes's body smacking into it, sent the machine toppling. It rocked back and forth for a few terrifying seconds, before tipping straight over, and falling on Wes. Thankfully, it only landed on Wes's left arm, but when the popcorn machine hit the floor, all of the uncooked corn kernels spilled out. Slightly disoriented, Wes found himself buried under a pile of corn kernels and the machine pressing down on his arm.

Star squeaked, "Ah! Are you alright?"

 _Well,_ thought Wes, _at least she's concerned about me_.

"I think I will be if I can get this machine off of me," he answered, trying to wriggle free.

"I – I'll lift it off of you," Star said timidly, attempting to heft the popcorn machine from the floor. And with amazing strength for a petite fifteen year old girl, she managed to lift the machine off of him. (Wes supposed that since it was partially broken, it was probably lighter than it was when they were pushing it.)

Star held out of her hand, Wes accepted it, and she pulled him up from the pile of corn kernels. _Oh my god oh my god she's actually touching my hand_.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" she asked. Wes flexed his arm, it was definitely sore, but nothing was broken so there wasn't really a point to go to the nurse.

"No," he answered, "it hurts a little, but I'll just tough it out."

"How admirable," she said dryly. "But seriously, if you need to go to the nurse, I'll walk with you-"

"It's fine, Star," he reassured. He swatted away any kernels that stuck to his clothes, "I need to go to gym now, so... I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Star said quietly, as Wes walked away.

It only occurred to him later that she probably thought he was an asshole because he left her with _his_ mess to clean up and a broken popcorn machine.

* * *

"Weston!" Tetslaff demanded, "Why are you late?!"

"I was helping Star Evans move a popcorn machine and it fell on me," he said dully.

Dash snorted, "Why didn't you just go _intangible,_ Phantom?"

"I'm not-"

"Enough comments, Mr. Baxter," Testslaff barked before turning to Wes. "You go to the locker room and go dress out. We're doing aerobic exercises today."

Wes obliged, and started walking towards the locker room when a memory surfaced in his brain... The ghost attack that destroyed everything in his locker, including his gym clothes. _Great. Just great._ "Um, Coach Tetslaff, a ghost burned my gym clothes."

" _Sure_ ," the woman grumbled, "using a ghost as an excuse that you forgot your clothes today. Twenty points off of your participation grade today."

"Wha-? I didn't-"

"Just join the rest of the class, Weston. You can do the activity in your regular clothes."

"Fine," he snapped.

The class started as usual, Tetslaff screaming at everyone at the top of her lungs. It was a wonder that she was still able to speak considering how much she yelled. As they started the aerobic exercises, they had to begin by pulling their legs behind them with their hands. However, when Wes pulled his leg up, a few tiny pinprick noises erupted on the surface of the floor. It was like the muted sound of hail smacking against a tin roof. Utterly confused, when Wes looked down, there was a circle of corn kernels surrounding where he was standing. _What the...?_

The kernels were coming from him, he realized. Or, his clothing at least. Some of the corn kernels must've gotten stuck in the cuffs of his pants, and now they were falling out and – oh God, everyone in the class was staring at him in curious amusement.

"Is – is there _corn_ coming from your pants, Weston?" Lester snorted.

"Uh... no," Wes muttered feverishly.

"Oh my God," Dash breathed, "Wes Phantom is some sort of corn monster!"

"He's a corn ghost!" a brown-haired girl exclaimed.

And that's the story of how Wes earned the nickname 'Corn Ghost' for the next three months.

* * *

If the day wasn't bad enough for Wes, his misfortune reached its peak when he got too close to a few utility workers repairing a part of the school that had been damaged a few days previous due to a large ghost attack. Already cradling a sore arm, picking corn kernels out of his clothing, had a ruined locker, shredded textbooks, burnt clothing, a broken camera, had tripped at least three dozen times today, added to his tarnished chance of having a relationship with Star, and had been humiliated in front of his entire gym class (which was soon to spread to the rest of the school), Wes had thought the shit had hit the fan a _long_ time ago. Well, apparently, he was wrong.

School had just let out for the day, so Wes let his guard down. It made sense, school was the root of all of his problems today, so since school hours were over, he was Scot-free.

Wes was walking underneath the area of the school where they were finishing the construction. It wasn't really an odd sight since Casper High had to bring in a construction team at least once every two weeks, if not more often. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings until he heard someone above him shout, "Shit!" And then everything went black.

He didn't pass out or anything like that. A bucket of black paint, literally fell directly on top of Wes's head. He was blind to the entire world, and could hear voices under the sound of the paint gurgling in his ears. The paint was sticking to his face and hair and he could already feel it dripping down on all of his clothes. Wes tried to pull the bucket off of his head by himself, only to loose balance and crash to the ground beneath him.

At that point, he might've started to pass out for real if someone hadn't carefully taken the bucket off of his head and helped him into a sitting position on the street curb. It was one of the construction workers.

"-don't have a concussion, kid? Kid?"

"Huh?" Wes managed to omit. His ears were slightly ringing, but other than that he had complete sensory lucidity.

"I said," the burly man repeated, "are you sure that you don't have a concussion, kid?"

"I don't think I do..." Wes said. His entire head was doused in black paint – he couldn't see it, but he could feel it. It was in his hair, on his face, on his clothes, on his hands, in his nails, _everywhere_.

"I – I'm sorry," the man apologized. "The bucket was my fault. I was climbing up the ladder with it, and somehow it just slipped right outta my hands. I'll help you clean yourself up," he offered.

Wes could imagine how stupid he looked right now ( _he sure felt stupid_ ), sitting on the edge of the curb, paint dripping off of his straggly form. But, this man was on the clock right now, getting paid for his job, and was offering to help him clean up. Normally Wes would've refused to save the man the trouble, but after having such an excruciatingly long, miserable day, Wes felt like he needed the help. "Alright."

* * *

Something weird was going on around Wes. Apparently ever since that morning, he'd been plagued with tremendous amounts of bad luck. Sam and Tucker had looked to him for an explanation, but he was just as in the dark. But... Danny did have a suspicion. A suspicion that didn't really make any sense.

After school, he transformed and found Wes walking near the construction, only to have his ghost sense go off... bingo! Danny watched in horror as Shadow quickly entered the scene, pondering his options, and maliciously knocking a can of black paint directly onto Wes. Danny tried to intervene, but he wasn't able to fly fast enough to catch the can of paint from hitting Wes's head. He cringed as the sound of metal and liquid hitting Wes's skull resounded throughout the area.

Danny turned towards the opposing Shadow and made a glowing, green fist.

"What was that for?" he asked Shadow. It was weird to see the shade without Johnny, but Danny knew that he was probably still recuperating from the attack a few days ago. But that didn't explain why Shadow was out wreaking havoc on his own, nevertheless why he was targeting Wes!

Shadow made a few indecipherable hissing noises and flew backwards, attempting to evade Danny. He scowled, ready to pursue the bad-luck shade. After all, Danny's job _was_ to protect all citizens of Amity Park, and while Wes was a pain to Danny sometimes, he clearly didn't deserve to be pushed through a bunch of bad luck.

Danny shot into the air, after Shadow, allowing his legs to blend into his spectral tail behind him. Shadow dove through around a corner, and into a nearby thicket of trees next to the school. Every once in a while, Shadow would graze a tree and cause a few branches to fall, so Danny kept having to phase in and out of intangibility to remain on the ghost's trail.

Finally, when they go back out to the street, Danny caught up with Shadow and grabbed his opponent by his barely corporeal shoulders. "Why were you targeting Wes?!" Danny demanded, summoning ectoenergy around his fist to disperse Shadow's form.

Shadow gave no reply, as Danny expected. Suddenly, Shadow caused a cluster of power-lines to fall down where Danny was hovering. Danny immediately let go of Shadow and dodged out of reflex, afraid that the electricity in the lines would fry him, even if he went intangible.

He looked up, and Shadow was flying away again, back towards FentonWorks, which meant that he intended to retreat back to the Ghost Zone... _weird_. Usually Danny had to force them to go back, but as soon as Danny came up to scare him off, Shadow avoided a fight at all costs. Maybe it was a weird thing Johnny had told him to do? Or maybe the Shadow had gone rogue and didn't want to get in trouble with his master?

To make sure he was _really_ returning to the Ghost Zone, Danny flew home as quick as possible to find Shadow phasing into the house seconds before him. It was an unusual end for a fight, but Danny couldn't complain. As long as he knew that the ghost was _not_ in Amity Park, and was _not_ terrorizing humans.

In the back of his mind, Danny wondered if Wes was okay (because some of the corn stuff he'd been hearing about was _harsh_ ), but decided against going to check on him directly. If Wes even sensed him (and he'd been getting better at doing that), he'd be quick to push the blame for his misfortune onto Danny instead of the real culprit. Danny didn't want to create more of a mess today. And since Shadow was definitely gone, Wes wouldn't be plagued with any more bad luck – leaving him completely safe.

* * *

The man who helped Wes, Todd, helped him clean all of the paint off of his skin and lent him extra baggy clothes (that suspiciously smelled like sweat and wood shavings) to wear in lieu of his paint-soaked clothes. They weren't able to clean the black paint out of his hair at all, and from what they could tell, it didn't seem like it was coming out any time soon. With a depressive grumble, Wes told Todd goodbye and started heading off towards his apartment.

When Wes arrived home, it wasn't the relief he had longed for after such a hellish day. No, the universe still continued to torment him, because outside of his apartment building, was Vlad's big, shiny limousine. Feeling like sobbing at this point, Wes had to mentally prepare himself before he entered his own house, and face his father's maniacal boss.

Wes walked through to the front door, to see Vlad Masters sitting leisurely on the couch. As Vlad saw him, he immediately tensed up, compulsively clenching his fists. And then moments later, his gaze softened, and his body relaxed. He smiled sickeningly at Wes, "Wesley... I like what you've done with your hair. For a moment I thought you were Daniel Fenton instead."

Wes scowled. Just the mention of Danny's name sent tingles down his spine. And then it occurred to Wes that he hadn't seen Danny since that morning, when his bad luck streak began. _No way_... Could all of this be Danny's work? Wes deadpanned, of course it was Danny's fault! When did Danny _not_ try to torment him? And now, Vlad fucking Masters was here, playing his last nerve like it was a guitar string. In a fit of irritation, Wes gave a child-like outcry and stormed out of the living room.

He ignored Walter's confused look as he entered the living room holding twin cups of tea. He ignored the glint of amusement in Vlad's eyes. He ignored the fact that he was walking away from his problems as he always did. He just wanted to sit at his computer desk and find something on the Internet to distract him like a video game. He hadn't played a good video game since the beginning of the school year.

But when Wes turned on his computer, an anonymous private message obscured the entire screen. It was a link to a video. _A video of paint falling on his head_. Someone must've been in the same area and uploaded it. He looked at the username and it was one of the annoying Freshman geeks. Just his luck.

Feeling like he was going to cry, _for the second time that day_ , Wes slumped face-down on his bed ready to simply pass out. _No more bad luck no more no more no more bad luck_.

As Wes's consciousness withered into nothing, he heard his father's questionable voice from the living room... "-can't believe your 'archenemy' is a fifteen year old kid that goes to school with Wes. Do you know how messed up that is?"

 _Nope,_ Wes thought miserably, _I'm just going to ignore that and fall asleep._

* * *

 **So, uhh, I kinda got the entire inspiration for the whole corn thing because the exact thing happened to me in the fifth grade. We were doing stretches in gym class after a field trip to this farm, and on that farm they had this sandbox full of corn kernels for kids to play in (it was actually really fun). Basically, the corn got in the cuffs in my jeans, and it all fell out in front of my entire fifth grade class.** ** _Absolutely humiliating._**

 **Anyway, this will probably be my last update for the month of October, so I wish you all happy Halloweens.**


	24. Night at the Skulk and Lurk

Chapter Twenty-Three: Night at the Skulk and Lurk

* * *

Exactly one week after his fight with bad luck, Wes found himself holed up in his room once again, sitting at his computer, researching ghosts. Lately, he'd been stuck in a rut in the evidence department, so he'd decided to step up his game with research. While Wes had made simple theories about Danny's biology, they were just that: theories. So that meant if Wes was to truly understand Danny, it meant that he had to read up on ghosts. With the entire world of information at his fingertips, it should be easy, right?

Wrong.

On the Internet, there was little separating ghost studies and ghost stories. The line between solid fact and spurious folklore was honestly concerning. Wes incredulously ran a hand through his hair. Most of the paint had faded by Wednesday, but there were still black flakes that would stick to anything that came in contact with his scalp.

After stumbling upon various World of Warcraft forums (somehow), dozens of ghost stories and creepypastas, Paulina's Myspace account that was full of pictures of Danny Phantom's ass (gag), PDFs of published ghost legends, and a few Ghost Busters wannabes' video series, Wes was at a loss. That was until, he found one web-page that changed it all: _" "_.

It was a blog run by an _actual_ ectologist, though they tended to keep their credentials anonymous due to 'controversy' or something. The only clue to their identity was the email address they plastered at the bottom of the page, _madscientist0509_.

Wes spent the entire night reading the blog which dated back at least five years. Whoever this was, they'd been in the ghost business for quite some time. They had detailed articles and explanations about ghost anatomy, cores, powers as well as how ghosts were formed and _why_ they stayed tethered to this plane.

One thing that Wes disagreed with was how they generally portrayed ghosts as malevolent, which in his personal experience had found wasn't always the case. Wes believed that _some_ ghosts were evil, but mainly because they choose to be. He honestly didn't think that ghosts _lost_ their humanity in death, he believed that their humanity was amplified. It was his own little theory, that in life, humans have to follow society's morals, but once that person becomes a ghost, there's not really any consequences, so they're free to pursue their horrific desires. But the person who ran the blog seemed to be extremely pro-human and was under the belief that anyone alive was automatically naturally good. Wes liked to think of himself as a realist; there were no 'good' people, the world was morally gray. He'd been able to grasp that pessimistic outlook by the time he was nine years old.

So, despite of the human-bias, Wes stayed up all night reading the blog's science articles about what exactly a ghost is made and how their powers work. All in all, it was actually pretty informative. But there was one article at the top of the blog that piqued his interest.

 _'Traditional Ghost Beliefs: Fact or Phony?'_

 _Almost every world culture that's existed has had some variance of explanations for the existence of ghosts – and with that, comes individual legends, lore, and beliefs of the creation and how to repel ghosts among other things. Many of these cultures believe that there are ways to summon spirits from wherever they typically reside, while others only believe that there are ways to produce a communication link between you and a spirit._

 _If you follow this blog or my work, you happen to know that I am purely a scientist and observe strictly ecto-related research rather than listening to old wives' tales. But what if... what if some of those traditional beliefs were correct? That's why last week, I took it upon myself to pursue research regarding these 'beliefs' and brainstormed a new set of experiments to find out what's fact and what's phony._

The rest of the article described their progress with the experiments to find out what was true, and what wasn't. While things like holy water and salt were practically harmless to ghosts (as Wes had figured), others like the summoning ritual had worked. The blogger retold their experience with summoning a known weak ghost dubbed 'BG' and using their known 'obsession', a simple incantation, and a few materials required to complete the summoning ritual. According to the blog, it worked 'seamlessly', and the ghost didn't even need consent to be summoned... which gave Wes a _great_ idea.

* * *

The only place Wes could find in Amity Park that sold the materials he needed for the summoning ritual was at the local creepy goth store: The Skulk and Lurk. Wes had only heard rumors about the place, tales of secret cults operating in the storeroom or frequent midnight orgies, and even one story about it being the house of a vampire coven. Due to these stories, Wes had created a horrifying mental expectation of the Skulk and Lurk... medieval torture devices, satanic runes painted on the walls, jars of mummified body parts, a dead animal or two carelessly strewn across the floor, and a sketchy looking chair used to give tattoos by someone who had learned how ink in prison. Of course, that image faded away when Wes actually stepped through the threshold into the store. Instead, a dimly lit bookstore with the pleasant smell of deteriorating paper and the faint sound of melancholic rock music in the background greeted Wes.

Wes gazed aimlessly at the interior of the store in awe for about half a minute until a harsh voice broke him out of his stupor, "Hey kid, are you lookin' for somethin'?"

Behind the front counter was a deathly pale teenager with a black Mohawk and a black cut-off tank-top, even though it was January. He had at least seven piercings and his pants were half-way off his ass, and was wearing more jewelry than even Paulina would wear to Mardi Gras. If Wes hadn't lived in Amity Park for so long, this sort of guy would have given him the creeps. But he knew better, and Wes was there for a reason, get the materials for the summoning ritual, and he was one step closer to revealing Danny's secret once and for all.

"Uh," Wes said, "yeah, actually. I need everything on this list." He pulled out the list of ingredients from his pocket that he'd copied from the blog.

The guy behind the counter snatched the note from Wes before reading it over and groaned, "Is this a summoning ritual?"

Wes looked at him surprise, amazed on how quick the goth had been able to figure it out, "Uh... yeah? How did you-"

"This is Amity Park, kid. You're not the first crackpot, and definitely not the last, who's tried to summon a specific ghost." The guy handed him back his list and started walking towards the back of the store, coaxing Wes to follow, "I got all this stuff in the back, in the Wiccan section. Some religious fuckfaces came in here last month all pissy, so we had to move all of the 'occult' stuff out of sight. Next thing you know, they'll be attacking our Buddhist products too."

Wes didn't know much about Wicca or Buddhism, but he was afraid to ask this guy about his views on it for fear of being rejected assistance. So he nodded his head in a neutral response. It took about ten minutes for the guy, who had introduced himself as Spike, to hunt down all the items on Wes's list. But eventually he'd found everything, and had issued Wes a grim warning.

"You should be careful," Spike started scanning the items with a price gun, "the last girl who came in here, Paula or somethin', came back beggin' for a refund after screaming about how some Nicolai Technus wouldn't 'get out of her blender'. So just 'cause we live in Amity doesn't mean ghosts are suddenly docile beings."

"Oh trust me," Wes answered, "I know what I'm doing."

"And that's what they all say before something goes horribly wrong," Spike muttered, handing Wes the bag of his purchase.

"I'm different," Wes said.

Spike stared at him blankly, "I might just believe that. You may not be goth, but you've got some of the most despair filled, yet rage occupied eyes I've ever seen. And that's saying a lot considering what I have to see every time I look in a mirror. Whatever reason you have for doing this, you have something driving you. It's not some silly experiment or 'cause you have some crush on a dead person. This is a plan."

Wes was taken aback by the apparent delinquent's insights. He was eventually able to muster, "You're really perceptive."

Spike shrugged, "I had a friend who persistently psychoanalyzing me for awhile, and I guess some of it just... rubbed off."

"Well thanks for the help, and... the talk, but I have to get going," Wes said.

He was almost out of the store when Spike's voice pierced the air, "Hey, one thing. Do ya wanna come to the Skurk and Lurk poetry night sometime? We have it about every weekend."

"Uhh," Wes stalled, "sure?" And with that, he was out the door, and into the bright street in front of him.

* * *

That night, Wes found himself back at the Skulk and Lurk. He didn't know what compelled him to go, it could have been his general boredom, stress from his tireless research, Walter's persistence to do something outside of his room, or maybe he had a pathetic hope that he could convince some of the more open-minded goths to believe him about Danny. Whatever it was that brought him there, it was a strikingly out-of-character coercion to act on that kind of whim.

The poetry night was held in a separate room than the main store, and within, were various tables full of bored looking goths he'd seen around Amity Park. Actually, now seeing them in one place, he never realized how many goth teenagers there were. He found an empty table near the back and was thankful nobody was looking at him; he'd expected to stand out like a sore thumb in this place, but the kids here were so indifferent that they didn't even pay attention to him.

Wes listened as multiple patrons went up to the microphone to recite poetry about their own personal struggles, misery, and rage in their life. To tell the truth, in the seventh grade, Wes used to _really_ be into poetry. Albeit, more fun and overall positive poetry, but it was a past affinity that he slowly grew out of. But before he'd left for the Skulk and Lurk for the second time that day, he'd scrawled a short poem on a napkin in case he had the courage to read it. Wes didn't know what possessed him, but after about thirty minutes of listening to others recite their poetry, Wes found that courage to read his own.

Up on the stage, Spike was the moderator for the poems, introducing and talking between individual recitations. Wes briefly walked up to him, and requested to go next, and with a creepy yet passive frown, Spike edged him to the stage. "And now we have – what's your name kid? – okay, Wes Weston reading his poem – what do you mean it doesn't have a name?"

Wes took the microphone, looking at the scowling faces of about thirty goth kids mentally criticizing him. For a moment, he heard someone mutter something about "not another jock babbling about clouds", but dismissed it. He took a shallow breathing a read from the napkin he'd written on.

"Days of misery, I am undeserved of this curse.

This wretched curse, to see the clear truth

that no one else can see, outside of a hearse.

This ignorance, shared by elders and youth

defines society's cold, relentless stupidity

to not be able to see past their idol's mask;

That within a ghost is a civilian, yet none see

my constant, infuriating torture, to which none ask."

When he looked up from the napkin, the room was staring at him with perplexion and acceptance rather than hostility and judgment. However, Wes's momentary euphoria only lasted a few seconds due to the presence of one of his least favorite peers.

"You're full of it, Weston," Sam called out. "Did you really write that poem just to make a statement?" She was in the center of the room, crossing her arms, shifting slightly.

Wes glared at her defensively, "I wrote that because that's how I felt."

"All you care about is 'revealing' Danny, so I think you're just playing the victim to earn pity points. Though, on the contrary, it _was_ a well-written poem, I'll give you that."

"Leave me alone, Manson," Wes said, "I came here of my own accord, not for some _scheme_."

"Oh please," Sam scoffed, "everybody knows that you don't even have a life outside of your conspiracy theories anymore."

"And everybody knows that you don't have a life outside of Fenton and Foley, but not everything you hear is true," Wes argued. His stance then switched from defensive to taunting. "Maybe like how you... only like Danny because of his ghost half? I mean, just admit-"

"-you listen here, and you remember every single word I say!" Sam lunged forward, placing her on the stage next to Wes. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, causing the goths in the store to 'ooohh' dramatically. "Danny Fenton has been my best friend since elementary school, along with Tucker. Assuming your 'theory' is true – which it isn't," she said quickly, glancing at the audience, "cool powers or an alter ego wouldn't make me choose one side of my friend over the other. You're just – you're just making a big deal of things that don't exist! You're not 'tortured', you're playing a part! Just like... You just don't know anything, haven't experienced hardship. Your poem is just one long list of excuses!"

With one last glare, Sam let go of Wes's collar, causing him to absently bring a hand to his neck. Sam turned to Spike with a guarded expression, "Sorry for the scene, that was... uncalled for," her voice bristled at the end.

"Why apologize?" Spike asked, oddly humored. "You know we all _love_ a good fight."

The goths behind him silently jeered in agreement.

At those words, Sam froze, staring at Spike before averting her eyes downwards, "Yeah. In Amity Park, everyone's a spectator," she lowered her voice, "And everyone's a liar."

And with that eerie statement, Sam jumped off of the stage, and walked out of the Skulk and Lurk. Wes stayed on the stage for a few more seconds before Spike pulled him down and brought up the next person to recite their poetry.

* * *

Outside of the Skulk and Lurk, Sam started her slow trek back home. Her house was only a mile away, but the dim street lamps made the road stretch out longer. (Though, she was used to walking at night, considering how often she snuck out to fight ghosts.) She exhaled deeply, and kicked a stray rock into the street, reflecting coldly on her actions.

In that moment back in the Skulk and Lurk, she honestly had no idea what had possessed her. When she had hypocritically called out against Wes's poetry... when she had lost her sensibility... when she had initiated a pointless argument.

Why had she done it? To defend Danny? Because she 'hated' Wes? No... that couldn't be why. There was some sort of rage inside her that was triggered at hearing Wes's poem, his admission of emotion.

It was like... he had been sending Sam on a guilt trip. Hearing the words so eloquently from his perspective, without the presence of Danny or any sort of desperate mania, they had resonated with her. She saw beneath the surface of Wes Weston for a moment and realized that he was also just another human struggling to adjust in this life of secrets. And in response to her guilt, she lashed out against him. She didn't want to believe that he was telling the truth, she tried to convince herself that his feelings were just a ploy. She had been defending herself and her skewed image of Wes more than anything.

And his retaliation only made her seem like a bully.

That's not what Sam wanted to be.

She fished the poem that she had printed out earlier and had planned to read that night. It was about her parents not understanding her, and that their definition of struggles were different than her's. And that everyone had different degrees and limits of emotional breaking points.

For instance, their struggles of maintaining a 'picture perfect' position in a critical society seemed like the most difficult thing in their lives. But to her, her breaking-point was fighting every day, watching her friends sacrifice and get hurt, unable to keep up with Danny half of the time, and being plagued with guilt about causing his death.

In her poem, she had wrote 'You think it's so hard being you, try being me for a day/because everyone feels Atlas's burden, to each our own way'.

She had originally wrote it about her parents... but deep down, she was starting to see it from another side. She had disregarded Wes's emotion because it hadn't made sense to her, but this was actually tormenting him... He wasn't just doing this for revenge, he was doing it because it was tearing him apart. She had always known that, but had never recognized it.

But just because Wes genuinely felt about things didn't change his actions. He was still trying to reveal Danny, and so far they hadn't figured out how to get him to surrender. Wes was too far gone to negotiate with. They had pushed him too far, and there was no turning back.

 _(That's just another lie. (She didn't want to stop being a hypocrite.))_

She turned the corner and tried to repress her self-hate. She didn't know _how_ to change at this point, because she rarely believed she was wrong.

* * *

Sunday morning, Wes started bright and early on the summoning ritual. He set up three cameras in his room to capture different angles of where the summoning would take place, and that way if Danny destroyed one of them he'd still have two more for insurance. It didn't take him long to get all the materials he'd bought the previous day arranged for the ritual. It was a fairly simple set of instructions: draw on the floor with some weird brownish liquid, use some nasty smelling candles, and place imported sage in the center of the circle. The next part, however, was a little more difficult.

For the ritual to be performed, Wes had to read a specific incantation to call out the specific ghost he wanted to attract. This was the part of the ritual that most people got wrong, such as Paulina when she accidentally summoned Technus. Just in case something went wrong and he didn't summon Danny, Wes had his phone ready to dial the Fenton residence so they could neutralize the threat.

Deciding not to postpone any more, Wes read from the paper he'd printed out, stumbling on some of the words because he was afraid he'd screw it up.

"I summon thee ghost from the realm of the dead

Attend to mine offering, fire and warmth

Beseech to mine property, security unto thee

And thy presence shall be welcomed here

I call upon the Halfa, one who inhibits Amity Park"

Wes didn't know what he was expecting to happen, but after about ten seconds of nothing, he was thoroughly disappointed. Just as he moved, to make sure all the candles had been lit, an orb of white light appeared above the summoning circle followed by a semi-loud 'POP!'

What Wes was expecting was a surprised or pissed looking Danny Fenton/Phantom standing in the center of the circle. However, the universe decided to ultimately throw him off guard by giving him something he never expected or _wanted_ to see, launching his already confused mind into overload.

A startled Vlad Masters stood in his room, wearing a gray bathrobe and was holding a toothbrush to his mouth.

Wes, for the most part, had no outward reaction. He and Vlad just stared at each other in silence for about excruciating two minutes, each of them absorbing and slowly understanding the situation. Wes's mind raced faster than computer processing speeds, chiding himself for missing the obvious.

 _How did I miss it? Vlad was the other Halfa the entire time! He was the one from the article, the patient who'd been hospitalized, hell, with some of the occurrences around Amity Park I should've noticed it, but I was too focused on exposing Danny to even suspect. I always knew there was something off about him, ever since our first meeting years ago! Even now, his secret lab... it all makes_ perfect _sense._

Finally, Wes couldn't take it another second of silence. "So..." he said, tersely, "how're you a ghost?"

Vlad's eyes flashed with a moment of panic, before being replaced by one of determination. When he opened his mouth to speak, his voice was oddly resigned yet grim, "If you want your father to keep his job... or worse, I would forget this _ever_ happened."

Understanding what this man was capable of, Wes automatically nodded as Vlad spun around and approached the door. Just as he was in Wes's doorway, something pulled Wes out of his trance.

"Wait," he called, "can you at least tell me what you know about Danny Fenton being Danny Phantom?"

He watched Vlad's apprehensive face twist into one of humor, and the man started laughing. No other words, Vlad simply left Wes's room, laughing at the boy's devout obsession with Danny.

As much as Wes hated to admit, he didn't get any sleep that night.

* * *

 **And now... he knows about Vlad (:**

 **Also, sorry it's been a while for me to update. I've been on a Netflix binge for the past month straight because I'm trying to watch all the Arrowverse shows along with school -.-**


	25. Stolen Wardrobes

Chapter Twenty-Four: Stolen Wardrobes

* * *

On his sixteenth birthday, Wes expected to wake up... different somehow. Maybe he'd suddenly grow two inches and develop abs, or wake up with a new-found sense of maturity in his brain. But instead, Wes woke up face-down, his skin damp from lying in a pool of his own drool. His room was dark from the overcast February weather outside, which was ten degrees colder than what the weather forecast had predicted. Wes groaned, it was just a typical day in the making, one that lacked of any importance. Most likely, everyone would forget his birthday anyway.

Boy, he was wrong.

* * *

When Wes arrived at his first period class, something was off. It was more of a premonition than a tangible observation, but something was _there_. And when Wes saw his desk, it all unraveled. Someone had left a gift with obnoxious Hello Kitty wrapping paper on top of his desk with a small note that said: " **Got you this since he seems to be your favorite person in the world, don't thank me. Happy 16** **th** **(:"**

Before Wes could ponder the meaning of the mysterious note, Kwan came up behind him and loudly proclaimed, "Wes, is it your birthday?" And with that, the entire room's attention was on Wes and his Hello Kitty themed present.

"Uh, yeah," he answered Kwan's not so subtle question, "it is, actually."

" _Ooh_ , who's that from?" Inquired Paulina, gesturing to the present. "They have _really_ good taste in wrapping paper."

For a moment Wes imagined that the gift was from Paulina, explaining the ridiculous wrapping paper, but then remembered that Paulina was a selfish bitch who only bought things for herself. She wasn't that sneaky either, despite what she believed.

"I don't know," Wes answered, "but they left an anonymous note."

"Oh!" Mikey said, "I know about half of the people's handwriting in this class!" No doubt from plagiarizing their homework for them. "Maybe I can tell who wrote it."

Before Wes could react, Mikey stole the note from Wes's hands and scanned it. A moment later, he shook his head, "I don't recognize it. Sorry Wes, the only way to find out who it is, is to open the gift."

"Yeah," Kwan said, "open it!"

With Kwan's second proclamation, he and the other students began chanting 'open it, open it, open it...' until he obliged. With no choice, Wes started to unwrap the present to end the stupid chanting. When he had stripped the present of all it's wrapping, all that remained was a thin, bare box. Wes lifted the lid, and physically cringed. He should have known.

Inside the box, was a neatly folded 'It's not gay if he's dead' shirt.

Wes tried to put the lid back on the box as quickly as possible so nobody could see, but it was too late. Mikey and Paulina, who'd been standing behind him, watching him with hawk-like anticipation had seen the shirt. And with horror, Wes realized that the two of them had started _laughing_.

"Y- you, g- got one of t- the shirts," Mikey said.

Paulina snorted, "You've finally joined us, Wes. It's _not_ gay if he's dead."

The other students finally caught on, and realized what was inside the box Wes was so eager to hide. A chorus of laughter was entertained throughout the classroom.

"You should put it on!" Lester suggested.

As with as much predictability as it came the first time, the students began to chant, 'put it on, put it on, put it on'. With more determination than last time, Wes fell back on his headstrong mentality and refused to give in. What he didn't know, is that against an entire school, resistance is futile.

* * *

Wes lasted three periods before he cracked and gave into the unrelenting pressure. Halfway through first period, almost the entire grade had been told through a text that they needed to do whatever was necessary to force Wes into compliance to wear the shirt. Over the next three classes Wes was bombarded with endless whispering to put the shirt on, chanting whenever the teacher left the room, several handwritten threats, two pounds of Dash's saliva through the form of spitballs, and a stolen backpack. The final straw was when Valerie (of all people!) spilled a can of Sprite on his perfectly clean shirt, giving him no choice but to put the other shirt on.

"You're supposed to be on my side," he hissed at her. After all, Wes assumed Valerie still thought _he_ was Phantom.

"Oh," she said, flippantly, "am I? Too _bad_."

Wes's best response was a desperate insult: "You're a jerk."

"And you're a small, hopeless, ginger boy with a broken social reputation that's worse than mine," she said, boastfully. She was _too_ fucking please with herself over this.

"Fuck off." The words left Wes's lips without a second's hesitation.

"Willingly," Valerie smiled. She handed the 'It's not gay if he's dead' shirt to him, "Now, you better dry off and put this on before next period."

Wes grumbled angrily and aggressively ripped the shirt from Valerie's loose grip. He walked towards the bathroom before Valerie made one last comment, "Have fun stripping!"

He was tempted to just go ahead and reveal _her_ secret for petty revenge.

* * *

Lunch was the pinnacle of his awful birthday. As he walked into the cafeteria, it was like he was walking down the red carpet, except the carpet was cold linoleum, filthy with years of embedded food particles. Everyone videoed him with their shitty BlackBerry and Nokia camera phones, forever immortalizing his embarrassment.

Wes didn't think there'd be a time where he'd want to take his shirt off more than that moment, and as a sixteen year old boy, that thought was beyond depressing.

Everyone from the A-Listers to the bottom-feeder nerds surrounded Wes, laughing hysterically and applauding him for finally giving in to the peer pressure. Someone actually catcalled at him (for a moment, Wes swore it'd been Star).

The worst part was when Tucker dragged Danny across the cafeteria to watch the madness unfold. Wes observed with unfortunate horror as Danny's face contorted into an expression of realization, quickly transitioned to disgust, and then settled on sole amusement.

The crowd of students lulled when they saw Wes and Danny make eye contact, and for a few awkward seconds, everyone silently watched the two rivals with anticipation for the fallout. It was then, that Danny looked up with a shit-eating grin on his face, "Aw _wwww_ , Wes! You didn't have to buy a silly shirt to tell me that you're interested in me, you could have just said something!"

Everyone looked to Danny with pure confusion when the realization set in. Wes was wearing a shirt that practically sexualized Danny Phantom; he thought Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom. So to wear that shirt, that meant...

Paulina was the first person to react: "I was right! I was so fucking right! _Santa mierda,_ this is _real_! He's in _looove_!"

"I don't buy it," Dash rolled his eyes. "The geek is too gay to actually be homo." It took Dash a few seconds to address the blank looks he was being given. "What?"

"The conspiracy theorist and his conspiracy... it's a modern love story," Star expressed poetically.

"It's kind of pitiful," Danny said. "His obsession with me is probably why he compares me to Phantom; he's trying to mentally convince himself I'm some hero so he can feel less guilty about his crush."

"All of you," Wes said, nostrils flaring, "shut the _fuck_ up! I am not _gay_! My fixation on Danny isn't some 'romantic delusion'-" he glared at Danny, "-or some disgusting idealization. Unlike all of you, I realize the truth that everyone is too ignorant to see! And everyone here is aware that it wasn't my choice to wear this shirt because I was _physically_ forced to thanks to fucking Valerie! So if you truly think I _like_ Fenton because you forced me to wear a shirt that sexualizes his ghost counterpart, _you're_ the ones who are fucked up!"

After two moments of silence, the only response to Wes's rant was Dash screaming, "STOP BEING HOMOPHOBIC, ASSHOLE!"

Wes swore he almost had an aneurysm right then and there.

* * *

Wes was looking forward to gym mainly for one reason: he was required specifically _not_ to wear the shirt. So, that day, Wes was the first in the locker room, so he could finally change out of the damning metaphorical (and slightly literal) target he was wearing on his chest, in exchange for his assigned gym T-shirt. Only, the relief he longed for never arrived, because when he opened his gym locker, his gym clothes were missing.

"What the fuck?!" He screamed in frustration, slamming his locker shut with all of the force he could muster. Thankfully, he was alone in the locker room so nobody was around to witness his outrage. Or so he thought...

He heard the laughter first. Danny appeared in his field of vision, standing on top of the bench in the middle of the locker room. He was still in human form, and holding a plastic grocery bag full of clothes... Wes's clothes. He gave his distinctive smirk, and shook the grocery bag mockingly. "Looking for these?"

Wes's eye twitched. "You fucking bastard."

Danny gave a fake pout, "That's no way to get on my good side, or are you just playing hard to get?"

Wes defensively crossed his arms. "I _don't_ like you. I'd probably date _Klemper_ before _you_."

"Of course you don't like me, dumbass. Dating you would be worse than stapling my tongue to the floor of Plasmius's secret lab and agreeing to be his creepy apprentice/son on the terms that I renounce my own father."

"W- what?" Wes had only known about Vlad's dual identities for two weeks, and suddenly found himself concerned and overwhelmed by what Danny had just said.

"Exactly. A relationship with you wouldn't be a cakewalk, especially since we're both very _not_ gay. Just making sure we're clear about that."

"Give me back my gym clothes," Wes demanded.

Danny impatiently shrugged. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to wear _this_." He gestured to the atrocious shirt that was completely ruining his birthday.

Danny raised an eyebrow before glancing back at the grocery bag of clothes. "Too bad," he said, "I'm just returning the favor for last week's 'reveal attempt'."

Memories resurfaced in Wes's brain, recalling his latest exposure plan.

The previous week, Wes had tipped off the Fenton parents about a fake ghost attack to get them out of their own house. It worked seamlessly. Then, he'd temporarily boxed up all of Danny's clothes, leaving him with only one of the orange jumpsuits (the same jumpsuits that everyone apparently wore to the pirate ship rescue) as his only outfit option. He'd hidden Danny's clothes in the trunk of Vlad's limousine (since it was constantly parked outside of Wes's apartment, it was easily accessible) to piss both of them off.

So last week, Danny had reluctantly come to school in a jumpsuit that framed his body the exact way Phantom's did. Wes had tried to get people to realize that the only difference in the jumpsuit was the color, but as usual, nobody paid him any attention, whatsoever. That left a pissed Danny, an overly confused Vlad, and a disappointed Wes.

Additionally, when Danny had realized that Wes was the cause of his stolen wardrobe, he interrogated him about the location of them. Wes, deciding to screw with him even further, told Danny that he had donated all of his clothes to Goodwill. Danny actually believed him until he flew into Goodwill as Phantom and demanded to see all the recent donations.

The entire encounter had been caught on the security tapes, and thanks to an anonymous employee, the entire incident was uploaded onto the Internet.

Later, Wes had found out through Walter that Vlad had taken the clothes home to his mansion and called Danny over to get them. Knowing the truth about the two halfas, Wes had laughed while imagining the awkward encounter between the mortal enemies.

Looking back, it might have been a _little_ harsh, but it was a worthwhile reveal attempt.

"Give me back my damn clothes, Phantom."

"Sure," he shrugged, holding up the plastic bag, "if you can get it from me."

With that remark, Danny jumped into the air and hovered there for a solid three seconds before the standard white ring formed around his waist, transforming him into Phantom. Danny arrogantly floated five feet above the floor, holding the bag directly out of Wes's reach.

"Come on, boy, jump for it!" he said sarcastically. "Jump!"

Wes didn't want to do, he didn't want to say it. But he actually did jump for it, like a complete fool.

Eventually, Wes regained the common sense to stand on top of the bench in the center of the locker room and made a reach for it, but Danny just floated out of reach again.

Danny rolled his eyes, "You're gonna have to do better than that. How much do you _really_ want your gym clothes?"

"I'm gonna fucking kill you," Wes hissed.

"Sorry, you're about two years too late."

"Ha, ha," Wes said as he made another jump for the bag of clothes.

Wes was desperate, and he had one last option to elevate to Danny's height. In one fleeting motion, Wes propelled himself as far as he could, and climbed on top of the row of lockers. He couldn't sit up straight or his head would hit the ceiling, so Wes laid on top of the dusty lockers, face-down, on his stomach. He reached out for the bag again, but Danny still held it out of reach.

"You have to _try,_ Wes," Danny said, with a mock serious tone. "Maybe you can fly if you _just believe-_ "

"Stop quoting _Peter Pan_!"

"I was actually thinking _Dumbo_ , but _Peter Pan_ is probably more appropriate in this situation... Wait does that make you Captain Hook?" Danny wondered.

"Give me my stupid clothes, please," Wes pleaded. "It's my _birthday_ , Fenton."

"It is?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well... yeah? Why did you think I got the shirt?"

"I didn't really think about it," Danny shrugged. "But-" he groaned, "-fine, take it."

Danny began to hand the grocery bag to Wes, when the door to the locker room was thrown open loudly. Danny immediately vanished, leaving Wes awkwardly laying on top of the lockers.

The person to walk through the threshold into to the locker room was no other than Dash, oddly solo. Dash didn't see Wes immediately, but nearly fell backwards when he saw the boy just sprawled on top of the lockers, a few inches below the ceiling.

"... Weston?"

Wes sighed, " _Hey,_ Dash."

"What're you doing?" Dash spat with a mix of aggression and curiosity.

"I'm... just taking a nap," Wes said, with a hint of uncertainty. "It's really comfortable up here. You should try it sometimes."

Dash continued to stare at him, before slowly turning around to leave the locker room completely. Before he walked out the door, he looked back and made eye contact with Wes, "You're still too gay to like Fenton."

Wes was taken aback as Dash walked out of the room.

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!" he cried, stranded on top of the row of lockers.

* * *

Later that day at the Nasty Burger, Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat at their usual booth conversing about the #1 trending topic of the day: Wes.

"-so, in the end, I _did_ put his clothes back in his locker," Danny finished.

"Well," Sam said, "I'm glad you did the right thing. Albeit funny, Wes doesn't deserve that much hell, since it's something someone like Dash would do, after all."

"You're completely right, Sam. I was considering stopping even before I found out it was his birthday," Danny said, sighing. "I just want to know who it was, though. I mean, _I_ didn't get him the shirt. But whoever did it, I give them all my respect for that gift."

"Um, dude," Tucker said, setting down his Triple Meaty Nasty Burger. " _I_ got him the shirt."

Danny accidentally spit out the food he'd been chewing. "You what?"

"Yeah," Tucker nodded. "I found out his birthday by looking through the school's attendance records. It was during the whole 'It's not gay~' trend, so back then I decided I'd make him wear the shirt for his birthday. I meant to tell you, but it literally slipped my mind."

"Tucker," Sam said, seriously, "you can't just do these things alone. You have to include _us_ as your partners in crime."

"Yeah, dude," Danny said, "not cool."

"But... it was a cool gag gift though, right?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Sam and Danny agreed,

"So we're good?"

"As long as you include us in the next one," Sam grinned. "Or else Danny and I will take matters into our own hands. Who has the next birthday anyway? Paulina or someone-"

"Sam, no."

"All I'm saying is that I'm _sure_ she'd love one of my graphic death metal shirts. All we have to do is get it over her head-"

" _No_."

* * *

 **Lately, for this story I've had a massive case of writer's block, but I kind of forced myself to write out a chapter today to commemorate my anniversary for joining this fandom exactly one year ago. I remember I just wanted something simple to watch, and since I'd never watch Danny Phantom growing up, I decided to just see what it was. And that was when I irreversibly fell into something I never expected I'd be apart of.**

 **It also took me a while to focus on this because I've been checking Haiju's Tumblr all day for her AMA event. (If you haven't read Phantom of Truth, _please do_. Same for its sequel, Shadow of a Doubt.)**


	26. Who Gets to Give Phantom a Valentine?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Who Gets to Give Phantom a Valentine?

* * *

Wes felt completely comfortable saying that Valentine's Day was his least favorite holiday in the world. Sure, his parent's wedding anniversary was on Valentine's Day, but other than that, he had no other reason to respect the horrible holiday. After all, it was a medley of several of the things that Wes hated in general.

The entire concept that if you were in a relationship, you had to be spectacularly romantic and over the top was just _toxic_. Hell, the Fenton's laboratory was less toxic than that, and _that_ was saying something. Even though he'd never really had a _real_ girlfriend, Wes thought it was bullshit that you were expected to ultimately express your love on one day, rather than loving your partner all year long like a _Goddamn decent human being_. Not to mention that Valentine's Day wasn't even a real holiday, it was just an annual commercialistic event for Hallmark, chocolate companies, and florists.

And the worst part about Valentine's Day? _The girls_. Starting around February 10th, all that a majority of the Sophomore girls would discuss was their Valentine's Day plans or lack thereof... or worse. It wasn't a well kept secret that pretty much half of the school's populous had a crush on Danny Phantom, and it seemed like every desperate Phan had a plan to capture their 'hero's' heart for the special holiday.

So when Wes found a crumpled flier advertising a protest for the holiday, he almost felt obligated to attend. He had nothing else to do, besides expose Danny, and he detested Valentine's Day enough that he felt like it would be somewhat fun. So on February 13th, the day before, Wes found himself outside Casper High about ten minutes until 4pm, the time of the protest. Aside from a few stragglers, Wes found that he was the only person there for the protest. At 4:03, he was just about to say "screw it" and leave, until Sam Manson ran up with about three picket signs with poorly drawn caricatures demoting Valentine's Day.

Sam took in the lack of the protesting crowd and groaned, apparently ignoring Wes's presence. She groaned and let the signs fall to her side, "Nobody showed up. _Again_."

He should've known. Who else would have such a passionate hate for the holiday of love that they would plan an organized _protest_ outside the school? It practically had _Sam Manson_ written all over it. As the black-clad girl angrily kicked the grass, Wes debated whether he should say anything or if he should just leave. Unfortunately, his mouth didn't conform with his sensibility and ended up speaking, "I – uh, showed up for the Valentine's hate thing."

Sam stopped her mini-rampage on the innocent grass, and looked at Wes like he'd grown a third head. "You?" she laughed. "You showed up?"

Wes defensively crossed his arms, "I do other things than stalk your boyfriend."

Sam snorted, "Are you sure about that? And besides, what do _you_ have against Valentine's Day? Are you that upset you don't have a date with Star?"

"Are you so upset about Valentine's Day because you've been friend-zoned?" Wes combated.

"Touche," Sam nodded. "But I detest this stupid fucking holiday because it imposes people the sense of what truly matters in relationships by brainwashing society into believing that we _need_ material things from our partners to express romance. It's the holiday of 'romance', but it's more like Hallmark's yearly paycheck."

Wes nodded. He knew that Sam was an activist but he thought he only cared about topics that applied to her interests, like veganism or something. "I agree."

"Well, even if you do, it doesn't matter at this point. There can't be a protest with two people, especially if that second person's you. You're the definition of _not_ credible."

"Hey, I – wait, yeah, I see your point," he admitted. His attempts to reveal Danny had not done him any favors when it came to plausibility.

She snickered. "Serves you right."

A flush of irritation overcame him. "For trying to show our school the truth?" Wes crossed his arms defensively.

"For getting involved in something that's _none of your business,_ " she said.

"When Danny's the person fighting for all of us, it kind of makes it everyone's business," he retorted.

"Did everyone ever blame Spider-Man for keeping a secret identity?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"Uh... yes?" Wes had never really been big on Spider-Man; he was more of a DC Comics guy.

"It was usually the bad guys, but I think you're more like Jameson," Sam said swiftly, slinging her three picket signs back over her shoulder and storming away from the school, her combat boots audibly hitting the pavement in a fading rhythm.

Leaving Wes visibly confused, he went home to stubbornly look up Spider-Man characters on the Internet.

* * *

Valentine's Day came and the amount of PDA in the halls was cringe-worthy. At that point, even the teachers had given up trying to regulate the amount of public make-outs. The effort just wasn't worth it.

Pretty much every girl was coaxing her boyfriend to pamper her with frivolous gifts and ridiculous amounts of attention. Weirdly, the one girl who was usually the most excited about Valentine's Day, the one girl who was showered in endless love letters and chocolates, was publicly moping inconsolably. No one had to ask why Paulina was so depressed, which only made the general population even more determined to rope her back into the Valentine's Day mood. But no matter how many bouquets she was handed, no matter how many serenades she heard, Paulina was still upset.

All because she couldn't get Phantom as her Valentine's Day date.

Finally, she snapped at poor Ricky Marsh in front of the entire hallway when he tried to give her a CD of her favorite Spanish love-songs.

"Why do you people keep trying to make me happy?" she cried. "I'm not _feeling_ Valentine's Day this year, and every year from now on! These _things_ won't make me happy, only _he_ will make me happy! He's not even around for me to give him my valentine! It's not right! He should be coming to me..."

Following her outburst, Paulina stormed down the hallway and ducked into the girls bathroom. Only Star ran after her, spouting empty reassurances at her friend.

Wes could understand why Danny was avoiding Paulina as Phantom. Sure, Paulina was pretty, and the Queen of Casper High, but she was extremely high-maintenance. Not to mention, that it was reasonably sensible to avoid the girl who idolized one half of Danny and bullied the other. That would be a pretty explosive, one-sided relationship. And keeping Paulina close to Phantom would put Danny at a major disadvantage. And then there was the fact that Danny was head-over-heels in love with Sam.

About an hour after Paulina's big rant, Wes found himself sitting next to Star in math class, and listening as she broke down to Valerie.

"I – I can't do it, Val. I don't know how to make Pauli happy. All she wants is Phantom, but getting to Phantom is impossible."

"Mmm hmm," Valerie agreed absently, not failing to see the irony.

"He's the hero of the city, though! How can he be everywhere, yet nowhere?"

"He's a ghost," Valerie replied, looking ahead of Star at Danny, who was also listening uncomfortably. "He's probably just invisible somewhere."

"Exactly! Anyway, I really just want to get to him so I can give him Pauli's valentine for him, that way I can tell her and she can be happy. She pretty much threw it at me in the bathroom earlier."

Wes spoke without thinking. If Star wanted Paulina to be happy, that meant Star was happy, and since Wes was in love with Star, he wanted Star to be happy. That, and Star would remember him for what he did for her!

"I can give Paulina's valentine to Phantom and you can tell her you did it!" Wes blurted out.

Star, Valerie, and Danny all turned to look at him at the same time. Star looked skeptical, Valerie looked baffled, and Danny looked... almost offended?

"How would _you_ know where to find Phantom, Wes?" Star raised an eyebrow.

Wes could've easily told her the truth, that Phantom was Danny, like would've usually said. But he actually wanted Star to believe him, and saying what he usually would say would not get her to trust him. So he came up with a quick half-truth.

"I regularly stalk him so I know his usual routine and the best places to find him," he said nervously, praying that neither Danny or Valerie would poke holes in his explanation. But, they did anyway.

Valerie narrowed her eyes, "Oh, do you? I'm sure anyone with ghost-locating equipment could find him-"

"Whoa, Val! I hadn't thought of that!" Star said, surprised.

"But that stuff is expensive," Wes said. "And you'd have to talk to the Fentons, and that'll take a few hours at the least. I can get it to Phantom by the end of the school day-"

"Can you?" Danny finally interrupted. He laughed a little bit and looked at Star. "I wouldn't listen to him, Star. He thinks _I'm_ Phantom, remember?"

Valerie snorted, "Yeah, he just needs an excuse to give Danny a valentine."

A few other students who'd been listening laughed at Valerie's statement and Danny jokingly tried smacking Valerie. She shoved him back, harder.

"I – I can actually get it to Phantom, though," Wes tried to salvage his argument. He _really_ wanted to help Star out, even if it meant dealing with Danny later.

"There isn't much evidence on your side," Star brushed him off. "I'll probably just take Val's advice. I can't _believe_ I hadn't thought of ghost-tracking stuff yet. Pauli will be thrilled!"

The bell rang. No one spent any time lingering around, especially today, when they could be having fun in some shady closet with their partner. Danny, Valerie, and Wes, however, were the last ones out of the room.

"Thanks Val for that suggestion," Danny said, groaning. "She's totally going to be chasing me around later, now."

Wes was trailing behind them and they paid little attention to their usual one-man audience. "Well, I had to say something," she glared back at Wes.

Wait... Did she _know_? Like actually know, _know_ that Danny was Phantom and that Wes wasn't Phantom? Since when? How? And how had Wes missed that!

"You could've just let Wes give the valentine to me, though," Danny said. "I mean, arguably I'm opposed but it _is_ the easiest option, in hindsight."

Valerie grinned smugly, "I don't want him-" she looked at Wes, "- _you_ , to have the satisfaction."

"Yeah," Danny complained, "but now Star is going to be tracking me. With my luck, I'll have to deal with her talking to my parents too. Ugh. Sometimes Dad gets _too_ excited when he sells inventions."

Wes couldn't hold his curiosity in anymore. "I'm sorry, what? Valerie, when did you realize that he's Phantom? Didn't you think I was Phantom? I'm so confused. Danny, I thought you were hiding it from her, what convinced her anyway?"

Valerie sighed, finally allowing Wes to join the conversation. "I've known for like two months, dude. I thought you realized when I stopped bothering you all the time about ghost hunting."

Wes had been so busy with trying to expose Danny, homework, and learning about Vlad that he never noticed that she'd stopped talking to him about patrols and things.

"So you finally know I'm right?" Wes asked, the words coming out faster than intended.

"Yeah," Danny said, "but _I'm_ the one who told her, so don't act like it's a victory or anything before you get too excited."

They were in the hallway now, and Danny and Valerie sped up just enough to where Wes got blocked by one of the brutes on the football team, causing him to be cut out of the conversation, again. Wes sighed in defeat, still processing the fact that Valerie had known for _two months_ and Wes hadn't even noticed! What else had he missed?

He walked to his locker, ignoring the explicit lip-locking fools around him, and opened it. And to his surprise, there was something there. A... valentine? Someone actually gave him one of those cheesy valentines? It _had_ to be a joke. Even if it wasn't, Wes saw it as an empty gesture. He still held his disregard for Valentine's Day and everything it stood for close to him.

He opened it and nearly face-palmed. It _was_ a joke. Why wouldn't it be? And of course, it _had_ to be from him. He'd probably thrown it in Wes's locker that morning, before Paulina started screaming.

 _Blood blossoms are red, not all ghosts say boo, you're not totally crazy, I believe you too. - With completely unromantic regards, Danny_ _Fenton/Phantom_ _(P.S. this card is made of ectoplasm and will melt if you try to show it to anyone)_

Wes had no doubts that the card was made of ectoplasm. He accidentally sniffed the paper and it carried that distinct, otherworldly stench of rotten meat and battery acid. And when he held it in the darkness of his locker, the paper had a faint green sheen to it. He didn't know how the paper would _know_ when Wes tried to show it to someone, but it was probably some freaky supernatural sentient paper that could respond to it's surroundings. He'd seen the Fenton hotdogs do it, so it was probable that paper could come to life too. Great, _just great._

It was just like Danny to give him a literal written confession that he couldn't even show anybody.

"DANNY!" he screamed. He knew that jerk could hear him all the way down the hall. He was probably laughing with Valerie about it now.

A girl nearby told him to shut-up and stop ruining her Valentine's Day mood with his annoying screaming.

He really _did_ hate this wretched holiday and the bullshit it brought with it.

* * *

 **So... I haven't updated in so long because I was unhappy where this story had gone in some parts, which eventually lead to me going back to older chapters and doing some editing. I did some major and minor edits, but no one really needs to reread or anything. I deleted the chapter where Wes goes on a date with Star/Amorpho and moved it my Deleted Scenes book and rewrote the chapter where Danny gets Shadow to haunt Wes, making it where Johnny set Shadow onto Wes because he wants to help Danny out. I know it's a little unprofessional to go back and change things while this is a WIP, but I feel like it was necessary for this story to reach it's fullest potential. Especially since I feel like I've improved in ability after writing nearly every day for Phanniemay earlier this year.**

 **Anyway, now I'm a Sophomore, and I can't promise consistent updates, but now that I've edited this story to where I'm satisfied, I'll probably try to write some more for it. Hopefully! As usual, thanks for reading and have a good August!**


	27. Inquires of Professional Ectology

Chapter Twenty-Six: Inquires of Professional Ectology

* * *

Wes had a theory that there was some divine force that drove people to do inexplicable things at 3 am. Because honestly, everything past 2:59 was a surreal blur. His dad had temporarily suspended his coffee privileges after he stayed up for forty hours straight during the school week, so now Wes was relying simply on his will to stay awake. Wes knew he was awake, but honestly, he had no idea if his mind was at the moment, which placed him in his current predicament.

Valentine's Day had been three days ago, and for some reason, Wes finally brought himself to look at Danny's mock valentine again. He felt giddy because of sleep deprivation and decided to read it upside down, hanging off of his bed. He probably looked like a girl reading a love note (a literal valentine!) – but no one was there to see, so he didn't care. The blood rushing to his head was a weird sensation, and the words on the card figuratively swirled around the room. Not to mention, he was in the complete darkness because he'd felt too lazy to keep his lamps on. But it didn't matter, the valentine had a visible neon glow to it since the card itself was made of some weird ectoplasmic paper.

" _Blood blossoms are red, not all ghosts say boo,"_ Wes read the first phrase over a few times. The more times he read it, the less sense it made to him. And then eventually all he could hear were the syllables of the words and it sounded _so hilarious._ The English language was nothing more than just a few sounds and the sounds were so stupid by themselves!

 _Blud – blah – somes – are – red_

None of that made any sense, did it? Yet, it was supposed to make sense so that was really weird.

After about two minutes of this, something in Wes's subconscious reigned in his sensibility as he got bored of his sleep-deprived high. He regained some of his lucidity and remembered what he had been doing. _Right_ , he'd been evaluating Danny's valentine for anything he could learn. So, he started over.

 _Blood blossoms are red, not all ghosts say boo..._

Actually, hold up a hot minute. What _were_ blood blossoms anyway?

It was such a simple question, but Wes's 3 am brain triumphed in accomplishment. Finally! Something he could work with: _what were blood blossoms?_

(The scientific method always starts with a question, after all.)

((But this isn't science, dumbass.))

… Where were these thoughts coming from?

He adjusted himself right-side-up, practically glided across the carpet, and fell into his computer chair. He clicked the mouse a few times, wondering why the screen wasn't turning on and realized that he hadn't pressed the power button yet. _Duh_. He logged onto the computer impatiently and finally reached Google, entering ' _waht are blood blossom_ ' with no hesitation.

The first thing to appear on the screen was a Wikipedia link, and next to it was a picture of what looked like some kind of mutated rose. From what Wes could tell, it was just some normal looking red flower that wasn't really that pretty, mainly because the shade of red was so dark it made the flower look sickly, and the stem and petals were a deep purple that almost seemed black. That in itself was odd because somehow he remembered from Freshman biology that chlorophyll made stuff green, right? That meant that the leaves, which were meant to turn sunlight into food, should be green instead of purple, otherwise the flower wouldn't be able to survive.

The Wikipedia page on blood blossoms was... interesting to say the least.

Apparently, blood blossoms were a scientific enigma. On the outside, blood blossoms appeared to be exactly like flowers, but on the inside was a completely different story. Wes was correct in assuming that their purple stems indicated that they weren't able to properly execute photosynthesis, and in fact, they didn't rely on sunlight to exist at all. Yet, they appeared to strikingly resemble average, healthy flowers. Even on a cellular level, when placed under a microscope, they appeared to be structurally similar to plants. Flowers without chlorophyll weren't unheard of, but those flowers were typically parasitic. Blood blossoms, on the other hand, were able to function independently, without resorting to photosynthesis or parasitism. Now _that_ was unheard of. Eventually, scientists determined that they were just some off-branch of fungi, but every once in a while a new study crops up to try to officially solve their mystery once and for all.

After he skimmed the scientific preface, Wes reached the lore section about blood blossoms. He was not disappointed.

Firstly, blood blossoms were historically recognized as a product of tragedy. They have been known to appear all over the world, in nearly all climates, but only in sporadic occurrences. In all reports of blood blossoms throughout the years, there was a common underlying factor. _Death_. Blood blossoms didn't care what climate or hemisphere they were in, they just tended to surface from the ground during times after mass death. For instance, they were very common during many famous wars, ranging from the Crusades to World War II; man-made massacres, like the Holocaust and Famine-Genocide in Ukraine; natural disasters, such as Pompeii and Hurricane Katrina; plagues, like the Plague of Justinian, and most notably, the Black Death.

Somewhere along the line, these fuckers universally adopted the name blood blossoms because people used to say that they absorbed the blood from the ground, giving them their nasty red color.

Yet, somehow these flowers known for being forged in literal blood simultaneously were infamous for warding off ghosts. There were many witness accounts that they were common in exorcisms and boiled into serums to defend people against 'negative spirits'.

And Danny... Danny had referenced these flowers. So did that mean that they could actually do something to ghosts, that it wasn't just an old wives' tale?

… It was worth looking into. Or at least, the unreasonable 3 am part of his brain decided that it was a good idea to find some kind of sketchy website that specialized in selling rare flower species.

"$40? A worthy enough cause to use Dad's credit card," he muttered, constantly blinking in distress as he typed all the correct number thingies into the angry information boxes. What was Visa again? Or was this a MasterCard? Man his neck was not cooperating with him tonight, what did he ever do to it? He guessed his neck was just a weakass neck, and his head was too heavy for it. And his desk seemed like a really nice place to rest his face for a little while.

Wait.

Did he hit confirm on the online order of... what was he buying? Flowers? Right... blood flowers.

Maybe. Maybe not. This was too comfy, even though his back was leaned weird in his chair. Sacrifices, sacrifices – just for some sleep, his back could suffer.

And with that, he was out within seconds.

* * *

He regretted it the next day, of course. Sleeping weird, not the online purchase. Because Wes had been so tired at that point, he could barely remember that he'd bought flowers off of the Internet. Around 8 am he'd woken up because of Walter making coffee in the kitchen, and he irritably carried himself back to his actual bed, but that didn't mean that the four hours he spent hunched over _hadn't_ made him a little sore.

Only two hours later, Walter decided to punish him for staying up so late again by forcing him to go grocery shopping. It was tedious and Wes almost tripped down a few aisles, but at least he could stash up on more coffee without his dad knowing.

Wes returned to his computer chair not long after his mandatory outing for the day. He could be following Danny, but he was difficult to find on weekends when he was having 'Phantom' adventures with his friends. There was also the option of shooting some hoops out by the court near their apartment, but it was February in Illinois and Wes hated being cold, so that meant lots of clothes, and lots of clothes did not guarantee mobility, so he usually avoided it. So that made the sanctity of his own room the most appealing option of anything he could be doing at the moment.

However, he had no idea what he wanted to do. So, he turned to the Internet, yet again, looking for some mindless distraction. He came across his saved sites and found the ectology blog he'd discovered a month previously. It'd been updated some since he started following it, but not much. Wes had been intending to message the person who ran the blog for a while, and now that he had nothing to do, he decided he could do that.

So, he clicked on their email: _madscientist0509_. Wes opened up his own email and drafted a message to them. From their blog posts, it was clear that they were a ghost professional, so maybe after he reassured them that he was trustworthy, he could get their opinion about the logistics of halfas.

 _Hello, I'm a big fan of your blog,_ _! I found it a few weeks ago and I found all your information very helpful and intriguing. Especially the article about how you attempted a summoning ritual! I accidentally summoned the wrong ghost so I'm momentarily hesitant to try again in case I mess it up again (since the one I did summon kind of threatened me not to do it again), but it's a good trick to know._

 _Otherwise, your information about ghost anatomy is also very descriptive and interesting. My town is infested with ghosts, and at this point we even have ghost celebrities it's so bad. I'm trying to learn more about them since I sort of have a ghost that's a rival, a local 'hero' that fools the public. It's a long story, but I would like to know if you could tell me some more about your research, the stuff that you haven't published to your blog. The only ectologists I know are somewhat affiliated with my rival, so it'd be great to get a professional's opinion._

 _Thank you for your time and all your articles!_

 _\- WW (_ _dunkmasterww2)_

After editing his message a few times, Wes eventually got the courage to send it. For about an hour after sending it, he felt completely dumb. He probably came across as a stupid kid even though he hadn't mentioned anything about his age. Not to mention, talking about Amity Park's ghost infestation so casually probably made him sound nuts, since even most haunted places weren't as paranormally active as Amity. But to his surprise, he received a reply within the hour, which was an extremely fast response time for an email.

 _Hi WW! I'm glad to know that my husband and I's blog has reached people through the Internet! We don't get responses to our blog very often, so it's reassuring to know that our research is beneficial to people on the web. I can definitely tell you more about my research, but you'll have to excuse me if I use terms that are too complicated. Usually I write the posts and my husband edits it to make it easier for a general audience to comprehend. Simplifying things when I'm in 'explaining mode' is a little hard for me haha._

 _Oh, and also from the sound of the town you're describing, I think we may live close to each other. I know it's kind of weird, but are you from Amity Park, Illinois? I don't know of many places that have really bad ghost infestations, and you mentioned your rival is a local hero that tricks people. That sounds a lot like a ghost that's from Amity called Phantom. If you're from somewhere else, then I suppose it's nice to know that we Amity citizens aren't the only ones with this sort of situation :-)._

 _Lastly, since I guess you asked about my research, what would you like to know specifically? Since this is my career, I have lots of broad information and like I said earlier it's difficult to generalize it. Would you like to know about anatomy, obsessions, behavior, lore, defenses/weaponry, et cetera?_

 _Thank you for your lovely response,_

 _\- madscientist (madscientist0509 )_

Wes didn't know why he was surprised that the blogger was also from Amity Park. In retrospect, it made sense since a lot of ghost fanatics hung around town. He was probably just amazed since he when he was on the Internet, he typically browsed with the mentality that he was interacting with people that were far away. After all, what were the chances of finding an anonymous blog that was operated in the same small town? It was statistically unlikely, yet this madscientist person was another Amity Park citizen, just like him!

When madscientist talked about Phantom, she (or he, but most likely a woman) indirectly agreed that Phantom tricks people! Given that she was an ectologist in Amity Park, she probably knew something about Danny that Wes hadn't figured out yet. So maybe after seeing what madscientist knew about Phantom, Wes could explain what he knew about ghost hybrids, and tell M about Danny's secret. This was great! He had a brand new confidant that he could tell about Danny and discuss ghost science with.

Elated, Wes drafted another message to madscientist.

 _Hi madscientist, wow I didn't expect such a fast response! You're right about how we both live in Amity Park, I've been living here for basically my entire life. What are the chances? Anyway, I'm kind of curious about ghostly obsessions and their overall mentality. I have my own theory that I'd like to ask you about, and you don't have to agree or anything._

 _I know in your blog you've portrayed them as malevolent and emotionless, which I don't really think is the case. The way I see it, humans are mainly neutrally gray, and I think that death kind of amplifies that grayness. In human society we're taught to be 'good', even though our morals are naturally neutral. So, when someone dies and leaves human society, they're able to do what they want. AKA, they're driven by their leftover human desires that society taught them to ignore. So that's why I think that ghosts retain their humanity after death, and why a lot of them_ act _malevolent but not all of them. I understand it doesn't have any data, but it's something that I think about a lot. It's kind of a different spin on your theory about ghostly obsessions._

 _Anyway, what I'd like to ask you is, is there any way to really determine how a ghost's obsession forms? On your blog I noticed two different kinds of obsessions._

 _The first kind of obsession I saw was how someone's interest/hobby/career before their death developed into their obsession. Like, how the Lunch Lady is obsessed with lunch. Or how Ember wanted to be a singer when she was alive, and now she tries to take over the world with her music._

 _The second kind of obsession is when someone's death becomes their obsession. For instance, Sidney Poindexter got bullied into suicide, and now he's obsessed with advocating against bullying. Or, how Technus died from electrocution and now he's obsessed with technology. (He's very talkative and long story short someone got him to talk about his death on the Internet. Here's the LINK.)_

 _So why does it vary for each ghost? What determines their obsession? And are there ghosts who develop obsessions after they've died? For instance, Phantom? Why is he obsessed with saving the town? It's not like he died a tragic hero, and I doubt he was a hero when he was alive. I'd like to hear your thoughts,_

 _\- WW_ _(_ _dunkmasterww2_ _)_

Wes thought that was a good way to point their discussion topic towards Danny. Of course, Wes was sort of curious about Danny's obsession; it was clear that even though he enjoyed fooling everyone, he was genuinely obsessed with protecting Amity Park. If he wasn't obsessed he definitely would've already quit fighting in the middle of the night and ditching class.

But _why_ was he obsessed with saving the town? When did his obsession take root? It had to happen sometime after he became a halfa, because Danny never idolized superheroes when they were younger. Or maybe... maybe his obsession _did_ have something to do with how he became half-ghost. If that was the case, then Wes was closer to figuring out how someone became a halfa.

Unlike her last email, madscientist didn't reply within the hour. Wes watched government conspiracy videos while he waited for her reply until, after about three hours of videos, Walter dragged Wes out of his room and forced him to eat dinner. Fortunately, when Wes returned to his computer chair around 7 p.m., madscientist had finally answered! (Guess that old proverb is true: a watched pot never boils.)

 _Hi WW, I left the house for a few hours. Sorry for the delayed response!_

 _Personally, I disagree with your opinion that all humans are morally gray, but I can't argue that ghosts_ aren't _morally gray. I also don't have the data for that (even though I'm working on it!), but it's a thoughtful consideration. Typically, my husband and I just assume that all ghosts are evil (to be honest it just makes ghost hunting easier), but your perspective would explain the origin of some of the more complex ghostly obsessions that we've observed. In fact, one of the most complex obsessions we've observed is Phantom's._

 _We have many theories about what his obsession is and none of them really make sense. But he tends to deviate from many of our standard observations, which may mean he's a different variation of ghost altogether. His behavior, physical manifestation, moral awareness, and strength suggest that he's more..._ cognizant _than a typical specimen. It's really intriguing, and we've been trying to figure out what set's him apart for months!_

 _For your initial question about how obsessions vary for each ghost, it really just has to do with the strongest emotional remnants leftover after someone's death. If someone has a peaceful death, they will often obsess over something that they enjoyed during life (such as the Lunch Lady loving her job). But if someone has a traumatic death, they usually cling to that experience and form their obsession around it (such as Technus being electrocuted, also thanks for that video!). Besides possibly Phantom, there are no ghosts who develop obsessions after they've died. (Well, human-born ghosts – Ghost-Zone-born ghost obsessions are slightly different, but that's a little more complicated.)_

 _I hope I explained that adequately! Any more questions?_

 _\- madscientist (madscientist0509 )_

When he finished reading, Wes released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He wasn't the only one who had noticed.

He. wasn't. the. only. one. who'd. noticed.

Madscientist admitted that she and her husband suspected that there was something _different_ about Phantom. Sure, other townsfolk said that Phantom was different than other ghosts, but they always just labeled him the 'good ghost' and the 'hero'. They didn't question _why_ he was different. This madscientist person, she realized that there were many things different about Phantom, about Danny. She observed Phantom – just like Wes had! – and put together that he was physically different and more morally aware than a normal ghost. She even knew that he was a _different_ type of ghost, she realized that he was more human-like.

Wes had to tell her. She would understand! Even though he hadn't talked with madscientist much, Wes was positive that she would accept his explanation! She could already see all the puzzle pieces, he just needed to show her how to put them all together. Once he told her about Danny, he would have an ally! Someone else who understood that he wasn't crazy, an actual ectologist who could support his claims!

He started typing immediately.

 _That's really helpful, thanks! I can't believe I was right about the two ways that obsessions form, though what you said about Phantom is a little interesting._

 _As far as the average Amity Park citizen... you could say I know more about Phantom than most people. Most people only see him as the "good ghost" and dismiss that for why he's different. And despite what they tell you, I think most people_ have _noticed he's different. But everyone ignores it because they want to ignore it._

 _There's a reason why he's different... and I know why. You were right, Phantom is a different variety of ghost. I try to tell whoever I can, but nobody ever believes me._

 _First off, I don't know the exact science behind it, but what I've learned about his condition is that physically speaking he's probably the most complex species in the world. He's a functional half-human, half-ghost hybrid that can alternate between two different forms – two different identities. In other words, he's a human that can turn into a ghost at will. He's a human with ghost powers, and a ghost with human biological functions (heartbeat and everything, even though he can manipulate it temporarily). A perfect mesh between the best traits of humans and ghosts, with incredible power. And essentially, he's also half-dead, but I haven't really figured out how that works yet. I also don't really know_ how _he became the way he is, I just know he wasn't born that way, that he used to be fully human until something changed._

 _I figured it out after some people at my school accused me of looking similar to Phantom. So, I investigated other students that looked like Phantom, and during a well-timed ghost attack, I was able to connect the dots: Phantom is actually a Casper High student named Danny Fenton, who avoids suspicion by acting like a weak slacker. He denied it for a while, until one day he transformed in front of me just out of spite, like the manipulative jerk he is. He torments me because he knows I know his little "secret". I try to follow him to get more evidence but he always uses his stupid powers to shake me off._

 _I understand that all of that is kind of difficult to believe, but when you consider Phantom's abnormalities it makes a little more sense. If you don't believe me, then I hope we can still talk – I really respect your blog and I find all your information interesting. It's ironic that in Amity Park, most people don't really like discussing ectology very much, isn't it? Also, if you want to know more about Phantom/Fenton I have tons of data I could send you, like you, I've been working on it for months!_

 _\- WW (dunkmasterww2)_

Wes reviewed his email for errors before he hit send. He prided himself for his concise and professional explanation of Danny's secret, overlooking the small clues 'madscientist' had revealed about herself... neglecting to connect the fairly obvious dots.

* * *

 **Ughhgh I managed to put something out before the end of January so. yay? I feel like I've written so much since I last updated this because I keep straying away from this fic towards other things, but I'm still here, I swear! I'm finishing this thing eventually. *insert unsure, but ominously optimistic emoji***


	28. Mild Disclosure

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Mild Disclosure

* * *

Maddie had initially been pleasantly surprised to log on to her email account to find a gracious message from a fan of her and Jack's ectology blog. It was the first email they'd received in years from that website, which they still continued to update despite lack of recognition. This anonymous 'WW' person warmed her heart with their thoughtful commendations of their work. She was even pretty sure that they were someone from Amity Park based off what they had said about a ghost hero with an unprecedented following, which could only mean Phantom. So she wrote a warm reply offering to elaborate about their research and in-depth ectology information.

After that, she and Jack left the house for a few hours because they had gotten a notification that Phantom was out and about in Elmerton. Unfortunately, the entire thing was a bust and Phantom got away – but when Maddie returned to the computer after dinner she happily found a new message from WW.

Her general assessment after reading it was that they seemed to be very opinionated regarding their own philosophies, but she supposed was too so she couldn't exactly judge. She also noticed that they asked about Phantom's obsession, which she could write an entire dissertation about, but she tried to keep it brief and answer their original question about spectral obsessions.

The email she received in reply, nearly twenty minutes later...

Jesus. _Fucking_. Christ.

Did she know what to think? No. Did she believe any of this load of bullshit? Probably not. _Was she an offended parent ready to send a motherfucker to the ER?_ Hell yes.

Nobody talked about her baby like he was some kind of _diseased_ mutant masquerading as the town menace.

Her hand was clutched tightly on the computer mouse, testing the strength of its plastic casing under her grip. Her other hand was digging into her HAZMAT suit, leaving a stinging imprint on her leg through the fabric. Maddie carefully closed her eyes (refrain from hurling the computer across the lab) and took a harrowing breath.

When she opened her eyes, that stupid fucking email was still there and her anger resurfaced twice-fold with a nasty vengeance. Something in her possessed her to slap the web camera affixed on top of the computer, which then pathetically snapped off and careened into a pile of Jack's 'back-burner' inventions. After realizing what she had done, she winced and decided on a lie that 'a ghost broke the camera' so she wouldn't have to admit she'd thrown a tantrum over an email and broken Danny's twenty dollar webcam.

With a gnawing feeling crawling through her stomach, Maddie turned her chair around so she wouldn't have to face the computer screen for the moment. She was still pissed, but she couldn't close the email. She needed clarity, explanation, closure.

She took another breath, " _DANNY_!" There was a surprised THUMP from upstairs. Albeit startled, she continued. "I need you to come down to the lab, sweety!"

"Uh... in a minute!" he responded. "I'm doing homework!"

 _Of_ course _he is_ , Maddie thought bitterly. She needed him down here to calm her down before she was tempted to break anything else, or worse, reply to this asshole's email.

Surely enough, Danny was stomping down the stairs just over two minutes later. He seemed a little frazzled, but that was just typical Danny behavior these days, as much as she hated to admit.

"What's up, Mom?" he asked, ignoring the computer behind her.

"I got an email," she managed to grit out. "I want to hear your thoughts about it." _And maybe give me an explanation why some jerk thinks you're a ghost._

"Uh..." he tilted his head in confusion. "Okay...?"

She rolled her chair slightly to the side so he could stand in front of the computer. She scrolled to the top of the message and let him read from the beginning. His eyes scanned the screen and almost immediately he paled, hands erratically fidgeting with the hem at the bottom of his shirt, strictly breathing through his nose. The look in his eyes was guarded, but she got the impression that if he faltered for a moment, they would express some kind of vulnerability.

That confirmed it: this wasn't new to Danny. There was a kid at his school that had formed some kind of conspiracy around Danny and was using it to bully him. Danny, being the sort of kid he is, had been hiding it from her because he was too intimidated to go to his parents' for help because he didn't want to be perceived as 'weak'. This same sort of incident had happened with bullies in third grade, sixth grade, and eighth grade – and it was happening again because Danny didn't want to upset her. It saddened her, that her boy really couldn't stand up for himself nor trust her enough to help him.

Once his gaze reached the bottom of the screen, she turned to him. "So?" she prompted him to just admit it. They had been through this time and time again and it baffled her that it was still happening, elevating to a more twisted kind of bullying.

He gulped, "Mom I don't..." he looked down, squarely biting the inside of his cheek and releasing. Taking another breath, he finally met her eyes. "That's ridiculous."

He didn't look nor sound convincing.

Oh, Danny...

"How long has this been going on?" she asked him. This 'WW' mentioned that he'd been working on 'data' for months, but she wanted to hear this from Danny. She wanted his confirmation that some kid was tormenting him, discrediting him, allegedly _stalking_ him...

Danny's eyes dulled, betraying a sliver of fear. His fists were clenched so hard that they had turned white. "Since Freshman year," he mumbled shakily. "I meant to tell you in the beginning, but I was... _scared_. I didn't... didn't realize that it was such a big deal back then."

Something in her snapped. Maybe it was Danny's dismissal of how serious this was, or maybe the tension had finally gotten to her. "A big deal?" she questioned rhetorically. "Danny, this guy's a psycho! Whoever he is, he's formed an entire conspiracy about you, rambling it off to strangers on the Internet, and following you! Harassing you! And you didn't think it was a big deal?"

His eyes widened, evidently expressing surprise. Okay... maybe she was a little too dramatic, but to be fair, it wasn't exactly an unwarranted reaction.

"... what?" he whispered. "Are – are you talking about _Wes_?"

Wes. _Wes._ So that's the culprit's name. It sounded familiar. Wait. Hadn't that been the same kid who had disrupted their demonstration at Casper High and had written an apology letter? She vaguely remembered skimming the letter, picking out words like 'irresponsible', 'sorry', 'disruptive' and she got the initial message. And wasn't he also the one who had been haunted that one time, by the Pajama ghost?

"So that's his name," she accessed. "Why have you let him push you like this Danny? His accusations are _out of control_. He's painting you as some kind of dual-natured freak that doubles as Phantom. You've been through this enough times with people like Dash-"

Something in his expression flickered for a moment, something forlorn and broken before his composure slid into guarded confusion. "Wait," his eyebrows scrunched together. "You think that Wes... thinking I'm Phantom... is bullying?" An epiphany settled on him and the residual sadness in his eyes instantly dissipated. "And you don't actually... _oh."_

"Stop trying to downplay it, Daniel," Maddie rested her hand on his shoulder. "This boy is obsessed with you. What good was it doing _anyone_ for you to hide this?"

"No, no, _stop_ ," Danny deflected her hand. "You're the one that's overreacting. This is just... Wes. He does this and it doesn't even bother me – he's just being _him_ and nobody has to get involved," he lowered his voice. " _You_ don't have to get involved."

"Danny-"

"Look, Mom, Wes is the running joke of the school. Nobody takes him seriously and neither do I. He started getting accused of looking like m – Phantom, and after a while, he cracked. So around then he started trying to convince everyone _I'm_ Phantom, probably because I'm one of the only guys named 'Danny' at school and that was enough correlation. He's not a bully, he just... legitimately doesn't know better?"

Maddie's anger refused to be quelled. "That doesn't change the fact that you haven't told anyone he's harassing you. Whether this kid 'knows better' or not, that doesn't justify that he's dragged you into this and – and followed you! Obsessed over you."

"You're the one making this into a big deal. He doesn't even bother me most days-"

"He's tarnishing your reputation!"

"Nobody even takes him serio-"

"I _don't_ care. Stop trying to avoid admitting something is wrong."

A wave of frustration overwhelmed him. "Compared to everything else I go through, Wes is nothing!" he let slip. For a moment or two, mother and son stared at each other, realizing his mistake.

"What do you mean... 'everything else'?" she trod carefully.

He swallowed. "Uh, too much schoolwork. And the detentions. Being late for class? Drama with Sam and Tucker. You know... the daily battles-" his voice nearly cracked "-I fight?"

There was something else there, and both of them knew it. But they also understood that he wouldn't divulge any more, at least in this conversation... Maddie ran her fingers through her hair, loosely attempting to relieve stress.

"Fine." She turned around to turn off her computer, refraining from trying to reread the contents of the email. "I have to get ready for bed, anyway. I suggest that you do too, lest you become _more_ sleep-deprived."

And with that, she was up the stairs, leaving Danny reeling from how close he'd just came from being discovered. It was a Godsend that she hadn't considered that Wes could be telling the truth.

* * *

Wes was severely discouraged when madscientist hadn't replied to his email. It had been two days, and he had still not received any response. Guess she _was_ just like everyone else: close-minded and unfit to see the truth, clinging to the automatic accusation that Wes was crazy. It was a shame because he had really wanted her as his confidant, mainly because her knowledge of ghosts could come in handy in regaining his credibility.

He dwelled on this during at least two of his morning classes on Tuesday. Wes did all he could to suppress his disappointment and figured that he probably should've introduced his online friend to the idea of hybrids more gradually. But it was too late now.

So instead, he blamed Danny for occupying an existence too ridiculous for even scientists to believe.

Wes let his thoughts occupy him until the dull crackle of the intercom attracted his attention: "Daniel Fenton to the Principal's office."

Forgetting which class he was currently in, Wes glanced around to see if Danny was there, but he wasn't. He had his next class with Danny, not this one, unfortunately. He wondered what the nuisance had done this time to get directly called to the Principal. He'd probably met the maximum amount of tardies and now Ishiyama was going to tear him a new one.

That thought alone managed to carry Wes into his next class, allowing his sleep-deprived mind to imagine the sheer stupidity of ghost-powered Danny Phantom getting defeated by a forty-year-old woman in a blouse. At one point, he started doodling the image in the margin of his notebook, with Ishiyama sporting comically large muscles made of textbooks...

Twenty minutes into Lancer's class, Danny strolled into the room with a flustered blush and a tardy slip. He handed the slip to Lancer, threw Wes an anxious glance (?), and took his normal seat behind Sam and beside Tucker. He leaned towards the both of them and softly groaned, "I want to die again."

They looked at him with subdued concern but mainly brushed it off. Meanwhile, Wes scowled. Danny had said that loud enough for other people to hear, but of course, nobody else cared. The only person who seemed to have really listened to Danny was Mikey, who was beside Wes. Apathetic at this point, Wes gazed at Mikey irritably – halfheartedly attempting to elicit any recognition. After a moment, Mikey got the gist of Wes's 'special look' and rolled his eyes. "It's _just_ an expression, dude."

The rest of the class passed without any incident, however, when Wes's peers were gathering their belongings for the next period Mr. Lancer calmly approached Wes's desk. "Mr. Weston," he stated, purposely keeping a tone that wouldn't draw unwanted attention. "I've been informed that you're to stay after school today for an appointment with Principal Ishiyama. You've been excused from basketball practice and you're to report directly to her office after your last class. If you fail to show up, there _will_ be repercussions."

Wes's head swam, "What is this for? I haven't done anything, have I?"

Mr. Lancer's lips tightened into a frown, "I can't say. All I know was from an email from Mrs. Ishiyama. I just know that it's at utmost importance."

"But I don't _think_ I did anything?" Wes defended himself. "She's just going to make me come in and miss practice without letting me know what this is for?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Weston. If I knew any more, I _would_ let you know, but I don't."

Mr. Lancer returned to his desk at the front of the room, giving Wes one earnest nod before he carried himself anxiously to his next class.

* * *

One night before, Monday evening, Maddie faced a dilemma. She was conflicted; unable to choose an appropriate course of action. As dinner concluded, Danny predictably fled back to his room and she implored Jack to watch the 6 p.m. news without her. Typically, she and Jack did the dishes together but tonight she had other plans. She'd already confided her thoughts to Jack and he hadn't provided any useful information. So, she'd decided to employ a new confidant: "Jazz?"

Jazz whirled around from where she was about to step out of the kitchen. When she turned, her hair moved slower than her body and briefly obscured her face. She brushed it away quickly, collect herself. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Would you... would you mind washing the dishes with me tonight?"

Jazz shrugged, clearly suspicious, but too polite to mention anything. "Sure, I guess."

Maddie smiled, "Alright." She moved to pick up Jack's abandoned plate and silverware from the table as Jazz started packing up their leftovers.

Maddie let silence elapse a minute before she brought up the topic of her desired conversation. "So, uh random question," she started. "Do you know of a boy called Wes in Danny's grade?"

Jazz had just finished wrapping saran wrap around the leftover pork-chops. "Yes." The answer was clipped and short. Jazz waited a few moments before responding, "What do _you_ know about Wes?"

"He started emailing our ectology blog. We exchanged a few emails before he fed me a story about how your brother is Phantom."

Jazz elicited an exaggerated scoff, perhaps a little too loud to be genuine. "That's _crazy_."

"For sure," Maddie agreed, turning on the faucet. She, fortunately, missed Jazz's momentary relief. "But Wes admitted that he tells everyone that Danny is Phantom. That he spreads these rumors to everyone at Casper. Danny... Danny said that Wes wasn't a problem, but that's what Danny does. Danny lets his bullies push him around and dismisses the issue. So I need to know honestly... is this Wes kid actually a problem? Does he actually spread these rumors to everyone, or was that an exaggeration? And does he really stalk Danny? Because I couldn't get Danny to open up about that, much. He just said Wes doesn't know any better about his obsession."

 _Wow_ , Jazz thought, _that's a load of questions_. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond. She was aware that Wes was a nuisance in her brother's life – maybe not really a bully – but he was definitely a threat to how Danny lived his daily life. He was a source of stress and unnecessary circumstances. She also didn't think she could bring herself to lie about Wes's endeavors to expose Danny, so she decided to stick to a close version of the truth.

"I uh... I don't think that Wes is a _bully_ , but he definitely tells everyone in the school that Danny is Phantom. He occasionally bugs Danny, and sometimes he only bothers Danny because Danny bothered him first. Also, I'm not sure about stalking."

"So... there _is_ definitely harassment," Maddie read in between the lines. The fork she was holding slightly bent under her grip.

"I guess so?" Jazz didn't know how to derail Maddie's opinion without delving into some of the episodes between Danny and Wes.

"And... and the other kids? Do any of them believe Wes? That Danny's a _ghost_? Do the other kids discredit Danny's reputation too?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Jazz replied cautiously. "No one has any idea that Danny is Phantom."

Wait, _crap_. She said that wrong. She should have said that 'no one _believes_ Danny is Phantom' not that 'no one _has any idea_ '. Crap crap crap hopefully she didn't notice.

Maddie sighed, cramming a handful of silverware into the dishwasher. "Good."

Three minutes surpassed before either mother or daughter spoke again.

"Would you have any idea where that boy developed that ridiculous idea anyway?"

Jazz unconsciously cringed. "What, Wes?"

"Yes. I just don't get... how someone can wrap themselves in such a nonsensical conspiracy. Half-ghosts? Superheroes pretending to be teenagers? Ridiculous..."

Jazz attempted to keep her voice steady, "Who knows? The human psyche can craft odd things... especially when someone tries to rationalize things."

"Rationalize like... observing details and coming up with a logical solution?"

"Exactly," Jazz replied. "Wes's mind just reached an illogical solution. Mentally, he twisted Danny's appearance and mannerisms into some kind of wild theory. That can happen sometimes... it doesn't mean he's crazy, it just means he added things up to the," her voice slipped for a moment, "wrong conclusion."

Maddie turned off the faucet, beginning to run the dishwasher. "Yeah... yeah. That's got to be it."

Less than an hour later, Maddie called Principal Ishiyama. It was just before 7 p.m. and she had the woman's personal phone contact in case there was a ghost emergency at the school. She scheduled a meeting at 9 a.m. the next morning.

She would have sent an email, but Ishiyama might have not received it until the next morning. (Or maybe Maddie didn't want to open her inbox for a while.)

* * *

 **Hi! Second update in like two weeks, so I'm happy about that! I hope this doesn't seem like I'm completely shifting the tone of the story. I haven't written for Misadventures in a while so I might be off my comedy mindset a bit and I'm trying to segue into more of the real plot now. Additionally, I hope this chapter wasn't confusing with the time jump - since it goes from Sunday to Tuesday to Monday. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading this (:  
**


	29. The Principle of Warnings

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Principle of Warnings

* * *

When Wes arrived at Ishiyama's office around three o'clock, he was granted with the most unpleasant surprise of a lifetime: his _dad_ was there.

Shit.

In Wes's memory, Walter hadn't been called into Wes's school since seventh grade, when Wes was unintentionally lumped in with a few other students who'd been smoking behind the cafeteria. At the time, Wes had been let off the hook because they sorted out that he _hadn't_ been involved (the guys had invited him there, but he hadn't understood what they were doing until they had been caught). But this was a one-on-one meeting between Wes, Walter, and Ishiyama... What the _fuck_ had he done?

"Mr. Weston, please come on in," Principal Ishiyama greeted politely. Her smile was plenty innocent and non-threatening, but Wes sensed the rational and calculating executioner beneath that facade. She was definitely going to restrain and lock him to the guillotine and Wes didn't even know _why_.

He cautiously slid into the chair across from his father, whom's brows were concentrated with a kind of impatience that he only expressed when something on the news disappointed him... Thankfully, Walter didn't seem to be angry yet, but Wes was afraid that if he didn't like what Ishiyama had to say... Wes would be grounded for at least the next month. He'd never gotten in trouble like this and (breathe) he was starting to get (breathe) _horribly_ overwhelmed. ( _Breathe_.)

"I'd like to ask what this is about, Mrs. Ishiyama. On the phone, you mentioned that Wes was having trouble with another student? This is the first I've heard of anything like this. Was it really necessary for me to leave work for this?"

 _Trouble with another student?_ Wes rarely talked to anyone anymore, besides Justin and a few of the other basketball guys during lunch. He wasn't having trouble with anyone, well, except Danny of course.

… Danny, _of course_.

Danny had been called to the Principal's office earlier that day! That hypocrite had finally 'ratted him out'? Had he really sunk that low? What a pathetic move, disgusting and cowardly – definitely not the usual style of Amity Park's precious 'Danny Phantom'. He was going to fucking give that bastard a piece of his mind the next time he encountered him.

"Yes..." Ishiyama kept her composure as she opened up a gray notebook, thumbing to a bookmarked page. "Well, allegedly Wesley has been harassing one of his peers, Daniel Fenton. Spreading rumors, bullying him on account of those rumors, following him in and outside of school, and cyberbullying are some to name a few. As you're well aware, any form of bullying is not tolerated at Casper High-" oh _sure_ it wasn't, like Dash doesn't send two nerds to the nurse every week "-so this is a very urgent problem. In fact, I recall Wes even spouted these rumors to me in a meeting we had last semester."

Ishiyama closed her notebook abruptly, looking between Wes and Walter. "Wes, out of curiosity, where did your problems with Danny start? Why are you so... determined to discredit him, to pin him as some kind of two-faced ghost playing human?" she paused for a moment. "This isn't any kind of interrogation, I'd just like to hear your side of things before we discuss our options."

 _…_ _options?_ Was she talking about punishment? Like detention... or expulsion? Or did he have to do one of those things with Danny where they 'talk out their issues'? If that was the case, he might be tempted to just jump on the bandwagon and also half kill himself.

"Wes?" Ishiyama repeated. "Would you like to answer my question?"

He'd already somewhat told them the truth about Danny. Neither had believed him the first time and neither of them were going to believe him now. To lessen his punishment, he could create some story about misguidance... or he could recount the truth and be wholly reprimanded for doing the right thing.

Wes was trying not to be a coward. After all, he couldn't buckle his knees the moment authority prosecuted him; he would never expose the truth that way.

So, he told his story: "At the beginning of the school year, I was being harassed for looking similar to Phantom by Dash Baxter and all the other popular kids. Everyone did it to me, so I found someone that also looked like Phantom. Danny. But then when I looked closer, I realized that Danny didn't only look exactly like Phantom, Danny physically _is_ Phantom. He's something called a halfa, and that's why Danny is absent all the time – he transforms to go fight ghosts." He observed Ishiyama's incredulous gaze. He didn't dare turn his attention to Walter, out of fear. "I'm not deluded, I swear."

Walter sighed beside Wes, resting his hand on Wes's shoulder. "I'm sorry Mrs. Ishiyama, that he has such an overactive imagination." At first, Walter's tone was nervous, a little unsure of himself, but as he spoke he progressively hardened his resolve. "I've noticed that he's had some sort of fixation on the Fenton boy, but I didn't do much to reprimand it because I hadn't realized that it was much of a problem. He's only outright told me once about his little conspiracy, and I tried to rationalize it, but he wouldn't listen. I don't think he's doing this on purpose, I think he's genuinely confused about how ghosts and humans work."

"I think I agree with you," Ishiyama pursed her lips. "When he first told me about this, I thought that he was joking, trying to bury his real problems by saying that Mr. Fenton was a ghost. After talking to Madeline and some other teachers, I think that his confusion is real."

A fleeting surge of anger broke through Wes's mild chagrin. They were treating him like he was some kind of kid that still believed in the Goddamn Tooth Fairy. "I'm not _confused_ ," Wes ground out, dismissing his Dad's grip on his shoulder, "you're all-"

"Wes," Walter warned.

"No, no, it's alright," Ishiyama interjected. She drummed her fingers on her desk before pulling her eyes up to Wes, boring into him with an analytic intensity. "Wes," his name fell heavy on her tongue, "we _can_ get you help. Aside from our previous... mishire, we have many qualified professionals that can help you."

He scoffed, offended by her sheer audacity. "'Help'? I don't need a shrink, I'm not making any of this. I'm not crazy!"

"We never said you were," she reassured. "Everyone gets a little confused from time to time. You're no different."

"This is bull _shit_." Wes declared.

She ignored him, "The fact of the matter is that you _are_ bullying Mr. Fenton, and that needs to stop. Whether you believe he is a ghost doesn't matter – you're still harassing him, and that's why we're here today. You _will_ get help, and you _will_ stop bullying Mr. Fenton, that's not negotiable."

Why did Danny have to drag Wes into this hell? If Wes was anything, he wasn't a bully – he was an advocate for the truth. But nooo, Danny just had to make himself the victim _again,_ pushing all the blame onto Wes, thus making him look bad in the eyes of the school and his Dad. And it was all so Danny and his stupid friends could laugh about it afterward!

"Starting Thursday, you have four days of ISS," she addressed simply. "And if after that you don't get your act together, you will find yourself back in this office with a more severe punishment. That means you have to stop spreading rumors," she starting counting on her hand, "verbally harassing Daniel, following him, posting things online, taking pictures, and making a general ruckus," she spread her hands on the table. "Understand?"

On top of in-school-suspension, she was asking him to give up all his efforts, to sink into the shadows with his discovery. He couldn't do that, he couldn't just surrender now. But... Walter peered at him from the side of his eye, warning him. Wes gulped. "Understand."

"Good," Ishiyama assessed. "Now, Walter, I'd like to talk with you alone for a moment. Wes, you're dismissed."

Surprised that he was just being released so easily, Wes didn't turn down the opportunity to leave her office as soon as possible. Though, he lingered outside of the door a moment, curious about what his principal was saying to his father. He only managed to catch snippets.

"... the options we have for him…"

"... no offense, but I don't really think he needs a therapist ... he's a conspiracy theorist. I don't think therapy can do much to derail his opinions..."

"... don't you think that him holding onto that perception of another student isn't..."

"... not stupid by any means ... just employs his critical thinking in different ways..."

"... agree, but we can't have him..."

"... as long as he stops bullying ... I promise we won't have any more problems..."

"... root of the problem isn't..."

"... he doesn't need to be told by a stranger that his opinions are wrong … already hears that from everyone else … make it worse..."

"... I suppose."

Wes scowled. He was glad that his Dad was sticking up for him by arguing that he didn't need therapy, but he was still upset that they were talking about him like he was some kind of nutcase. Trying to ease his frustration, Wes threw himself into one of the chairs in the waiting area, hoping that a few seconds of peace could soothe him. He knew that once it was just him and his dad... Walter was going to raise all hell.

He fumbled in his backpack for his MP3 player, because at this point he needed something to distract himself. Ironically, he couldn't even fulfill that course of action because as soon as he moved to zip up his backpack, a blur of black and white phased through the ceiling: Danny, as Phantom.

All his unresolved frustration reignited within him and he could _feel_ the blood rush up to his ears. Wes kicked his backpack to the side, dug his fingernails into his palm, and exhaled loudly. Staying a good two feet above the floor, Danny turned to Wes and mocked a look of surprise. "Wh-"

Wes didn't let him get a word in, "So you came here to gloat, you fucking half-corpse shitbag?" He stood up from his seat, "You got what you wanted, ha _ha_. I got in trouble, how hilarious, and now the entire staff thinks you're the victim. Just when I thought you couldn't get more irritating too. Why'd you pull this all of a sudden anyway? If anything, I've been bothering you _less_ than usual lately."

Danny raised his hands in mock surrender. "Look, dude, I only sensed a ghost over here. I have no idea what you're talking abo – _oh_." His eyes widened, realization sinking in. Moments later, he landed on the floor. "You're talking about that 'harassment' thing. That's why you're here after school hours."

"Well _duh_." His reaction was a lot less smug than Wes had anticipated, but he could still see a subtle glint of amusement in his eyes. "You're the one who told them, smartass."

"Me?" Danny rolled his eyes. "You think I told the school about this? I mean, why would _I_ tell Ishiyama you're 'harassing me' or something when I actually _am_ Phantom?" he gestured to himself since he was still in ghost form. "I'm not that hypocritical, dude, despite what you think."

"But you hate me," Wes reasoned. Was Danny really trying to worm his way out of this? "That's why you told the school."

Danny groaned, "I don't hate you. I'm just generally _annoyed_ by you. I didn't tell the school, you did. Well, I mean it's your fault that they found out."

Wes scoffed, "And pray tell, what'd _I_ do?"

Danny regarded him with a dumbfounded frown, his spectral glow humming with apprehension. "You mean... you hadn't realized that you were emailing my _mom_?"

…

Oh.

Maddie Fenton... local ghost scientist and hunter... and _mad_ scientist0509, an ectologist from Amity Park...

Okay, yeah. He may have walked into that. _Hard_.

Normally, he probably would have seen the clues, but he was just so ecstatic to have an Internet friend he could discuss ghost things with. Besides, he also hadn't expected some anonymous blogger on the Internet to be someone he knew in real life. But... _jeez_ he'd been blind-sighted. It made him feel really pathetic about himself, really.

Danny was still staring at him, nonchalantly observing his reaction. Wes recomposed himself, trying to mask his embarrassment by venturing into the obvious. "So..." he drawled, "I guess your mom didn't believe me?"

"Nope," Danny replied, cheerfully. He brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen in his eyes. "As soon as she read it, she thought that you were just some jerk spreading rumors about me. Last weekend, I tried to talk her down, but she insisted on talking to the school about your 'bullying'. She talked with Ishiyama this morning and that's why I got called in," he explained.

Wes wasn't comfortable completely absolving Danny from blame (after all, it was _his_ secret that was getting _Wes_ in trouble), but he figured that since he hadn't gotten Wes in trouble on purpose that Danny wasn't at fault here.

"I see..." Wes nodded awkwardly. "So even though she lives with you, _raised_ you, she couldn't wrap her mind around even the slightest possibility you're Phantom? Even with all the overwhelming evidence?"

"Mm, thankfully."

"But my explanation... I don't get it. Your Mom is _smart_. She's like a Doctor, how can she not see it? Everyone here," he referred to their peers, "is just _stupid_ , and that's why they don't see the truth. How could she just blow off my explanation without any consideration, chose to believe that some kid is being a bully?"

"Well, I mean..." he rubbed the back of his neck, "I _am_ her son, and you're just a stranger to her – I have more credibility. But otherwise..." He debated about continuing, before resolving his dilemma. "I guess I can tell you this."

"What?" Wes raised a brow. Did Danny actually have some kind of explanation that Wes hadn't thought of?

"Jazz has a theory," he stated. "That Mom – and well, everyone else – is subconsciously ignoring that I'm Phantom because she doesn't _want_ to believe that I'm some kind of freaky hybrid. I mean, she's a ghost hunter; what would be worse than having your own _kid_ be a ghost?" He had an undertone of bitterness but carried on. "So on some level, everyone probably has realized that Fenton and Phantom are similar, but they're just not ready for the existence of half-ghosts, and all the unknown weirdness that comes from that reality.

"For instance: 'If weakling Fenton is actually a strong ghost hero, then what else could be real? What else could I be wrong about?' I remember Jazz called it a defense mechanism, words like 'self-deception' and 'distortion' and 'repression' – plus more psychology terms I don't know. Sam also suggested that you're probably helping everyone disregard my secret – since people think you're crazy, they're less likely to believe their subconscious suspicions about me. I don't know if any of that makes sense," he concluded.

Wes had considered that people subconsciously ignored Danny's secret, but he hadn't really thought of ignorance as a defense mechanism. He just assumed people chose to be ignorant because they _were_ ignorant – not because they weren't ready to adjust their reality because of psychological repercussions. It was interesting, to say the least; and it made sense.

"It makes me angry that you're right," Wes admitted. "Why can't people just get over themselves?" he decided, bitterly.

Danny grinned, "I'm not complaining."

"Oh, yeah. Of _course_ you wouldn't."

Danny shrugged, "Well, you can't exactly-" he cut himself off. He spun, towards the door to Ishiyama's office and promptly turned invisible. Danny vanished only moments before Walter walked through the door.

 _Shit_. His dad didn't look pleased. His expression was drawn into one of unreadable irritation that settled on his face in a foreign fashion. His entire... _vibe_ was different than it had been moments earlier. For one, Wes had never seen Walter's face that pissed that it was almost unnerving – it was almost like it wasn't his dad at all. Wes was aware that he was probably about to be chewed out. Even worse, he could sense Danny's cold presence just a few feet away. He hadn't left, meaning that he would see the whole thing.

He just wanted to go home and sleep. Why did _this_ have to happen to him?

Walter let the door close behind him completely before he stepped forward. His stride was a little off-balance but he regained his composure. He placed a firm hand on Wes's shoulder – _physical contact, not good_ – and took a breath.

"This way, Wes," he said, gesturing towards the hallway. "I'd like to put some distance between us and Mrs. Ishiyama when we _talk_."

His voice was cold. Unfamiliar, yet reminiscent of someone else. Man... he'd really fucked up and now his dad had zero tolerance...

"Alright," he nodded.

Walter led him into the hallway and slowed down near the water fountain. Wes fidgeted nervously with the strings of his backpack and avoided eye contact with his dad, waiting for the explosion. But the explosion never came. Instead, Walter exhaled tiredly and snapped, "Look at me."

Wes averted his focus from the floor and met his dad's eyes. And when he did... he almost recoiled back into the lockers. They were a startling, bright red. _Overshadowed_ , his mind supplied. _But who_ -?

"I was with your father when he got the call from the school," not-Walter started. "I had my suspicions, so I decided to... _tag_ along."

Wes narrowed his eyes. This ghost had been with his dad? But... did that mean this was-

"Vlad?" Wes tested. That was the only explanation that made sense.

Something moved in Wes's peripheral vision – black and white and – " _Vlad_ ," Danny echoed, a hostile edge to his voice. "So _you_ set off my ghost sense."

Vlad's gaze shifted to where Danny was floating, only a few feet behind Wes. "Hello, Daniel."

"What are you doing?" Danny demanded. "Why are you in Mr. Weston?"

"Oh," Vlad smirked, and Wes had to stifle a gasp when he noticed that Walter's teeth looked _sharper_ than usual. "I just thought that Wesley and I were due for a talk. Nothing harmful, I assure you. None of your business either, Daniel."

"And you had to overshadow my dad... why?" Wes butted in, trying to appear at ease with the situation. He wasn't. He was terrified. Vlad might be like Danny, but he was much more threatening for other reasons.

"Well, I figured it would be easiest. I wanted to have a private discussion with you and knocking out my own assistant would hardly be beneficial for anyone so I figured I'd just overshadow him," Vlad waved his hand casually as if just _taking over_ other people was a natural course of action. And he supposed, for someone like him it was.

Danny scoffed, "And what? We're just supposed to believe that?"

Vlad looked straight at Danny. "Yes. But I doubt you will. So..." and before Wes could register what was happening, Walter – Vlad _lunged_ forward and phased his arm into Wes's backpack and pulled out what looked like some kind of sci-fi gun. It was paneled with red metal and was big enough that it fit in Walter's palm almost perfectly. When had he...? When had he put that gun in Wes's backpack? Had it just put it there for storage or for dramatic flair?

Well, he was talking about Vlad Masters here; it was definitely for dramatic flair.

With one flourish of his wrist, Vlad aimed and fired the gun so that it hit Danny squarely in the chest. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to dodge and it knocked him into the wall, causing him to detransform into Fenton. He moaned into the floor before falling limp, evidently unconscious.

"That was easy enough," Vlad said, almost surprised. "Usually he puts up more of a fight. Oh well," he shrugged, pocketing the gun, "now for our little chat, Wesley."

Wes gulped, trying to ignore how effortlessly Vlad had knocked Danny out. Clearly, if Vlad wanted to injure Wes, he could do it without difficulty. "What do you want from me?"

Vlad, wearing his dad's face, narrowed his eyes. "You're being too loud, Wesley. Mrs. Ishiyama is correct to reprimand you, but I can assure you if you include people like _my_ Madeline again, I will be the one delivering the consequences." 'His'... Madeline? Ew, did he have a thing for Danny's _mom_? "Go ahead and tell all of Casper High about half-ghosts," Vlad continued, "tell people on the street even. But Madeline is off limits, she cannot know about any of this – if she finds a reason to suspect that I'm who I am, then everything I've worked for is _over_ , and therefore, you _are_ over. Do you understand, my boy?"

Wes shivered. Something about the way that Vlad used his own dad's voice to say ' _my boy'_ was horrifyingly unnerving; it was just downright _wrong_. He realized that the terror had slipped into his expression when the corner of Walter's mouth curled with unspoken satisfaction. Vlad was pleased that he had effectively frightened him and Wes couldn't protest. Because he _was_ scared.

The only thing Wes could do was numbly nod. And Vlad, who reveled in his smugness, took that as an answer. "Good," he patted Wes's shoulder, "I'm _glad_ we understand each other." And with that, Vlad spun on his heels and put a good ten-foot distance between him and Wes. "Your father will meet you at home," he announced, before promptly vanishing.

Wes was left alone, not counting Danny, who was still drooling on the floor. Whatever Vlad had hit him with hit _hard_. He was tempted to just leave him there, Danny never did _him_ any favors after all. But... he had stood up for Walter, against Vlad. And for that, Wes would make an exception to his grudge. Just this once... since they both hated Vlad.

Wes made his way over to Danny and nudged him with his foot. "Hey, get up."

Danny's body twitched and he mumbled something incoherent before slipping back into dreamland. Wes nudged him again, this time shaking his shoulder with his hand. "Seriously, Danny. Wake up, dude. Vlad's a total dick."

Danny was still unresponsive, but he breathed something along the lines of "...true."

Wes sighed, "Of course that's the part you hear."

He tried for about twenty more seconds before giving up. Danny was out for the count and Wes wasn't keen on waiting for him to wake up. Who knew how long it would be before he woke up? So, figuring that if he was going to do anything, he would prop Danny up into a sitting position so his face was smashed against the tile. Wes tentatively attempted to sit Danny up and found it much easier than he expected. He didn't know if it came with being a ghost or what, but he practically weighed _nothing_.

Wes left the hallway without a second glance at Danny. That was all he owed him. Nothing else. He was still a jerk for everything else he had put Wes through. He left Casper High and made his way toward his apartment, his mind hesitantly wandering back to Vlad's threat...

* * *

"Was overshadowing me necessary?" Walter asked, facing his boss. Vlad freely floated in front of Walter, who was sitting in his living room recliner.

"Yes," Vlad said. "It was to employ fear. I'd never hurt you, we both know that, but Wesley doesn't. By overshadowing you, it reminds him that I can 'hurt' you whenever I need to. I understand that scaring your son isn't the most... _ideal_... situation. But I can't afford to risk my secret and someone needed to make that clear. _You_ obviously weren't doing an adequate job."

Walter crossed his arms, "How do you expect me to get that message across without letting Wes know I know the truth about halfas?"

"Well, I'm not his parent, you tell me," Vlad deadpanned. With that, he set his feet on the floor and transformed back into his human form. He took the chair opposite Walter, "I'm sorry if I was harsh, but Wesley is out of control. There weren't many options!"

"I... I know," Walter admitted. "We've been doing this a while, but it's just different when it's _my_ son."

"Obviously," Vlad rolled his eyes. "It's just our luck that out of any teenager that could have formed an obsession around my arch-nemesis's identity, it had to be him, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately," Walter groaned. "But I suppose it's nice to know he isn't as naive as everyone else in this town... even though he's a liability."

"I suppose that is true... maybe he'll be useful to us one day," Vlad trailed off. Even though he was a ticking time bomb, in the future Wes could be a useful ally if given the right _persuasion_.

Vlad filed that possibility away for later. For now, he would watch the boy from the sidelines in his endeavors to reveal Daniel. He would only interact if that situation got out of hand, as it did today. Sure, Wes had potential, but he wasn't a prime player in Vlad's plans... yet.

* * *

 **I know it's been forever (again lol) but for the past two months I've been working on PhannieMay, so once I got that knocked out I decided to work on what I already had written for this and go ahead and finish this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed!**


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